Respiratory Nurse Consultant Dr Karen Marshall, has been elected as President of the North East Thoracic Society – the first nurse and only second women in its history to hold the title.
Karen, who has been a nurse in the field of respiratory medicine for over 32 years said she was delighted with this huge honour and was looking forward to making a positive impact in her new role.
The North East Thoracic Society was established 104 years ago with the aim of promoting respiratory medicine as a clinical specialty and offering many education and training opportunities to its members all with the ultimate aim of improving care and treatment for respiratory patients.
Since its inception in 1918, members of the society have predominantly been medical staff. Karen says she was probably the first nurse to join many years ago but over the years more nurses, allied health care professionals and public health consultants have joined the growing community.
The Figurehead of the Society
“The President is really the figurehead of the Society”, explains Karen. “There is a fantastic committee which carries out the day to day running of the Society liaising closely with the President.
“It organises educational meetings throughout the year which the President is expected to attend, and each year there is an award ceremony called ‘The Golden Bronchoscope Award’ for deserving respiratory projects.
“The President helps other colleagues to select the winner so I’m really looking forward to hearing about all the fantastic work going on amongst my respiratory colleagues during yet another challenging year.”
Of her appointment, Karen says “I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to be the first nurse and only the second woman since the society started 104 years ago. I very much hope to be able to show that nurses are quite capable of undertaking such roles.
“I am also committed to raising the profile of the work of the North East Thoracic Society as we have some truly amazing respiratory staff working together across the region. And as a non-medic, I would also like to encourage more nurses and allied health care professionals to join the society as we have a lot to offer.”
Outstanding Role Model
Ian Joy, Deputy Chief Nurse for the Newcastle Hospitals said: “We’re so thrilled for Karen who is a highly respected nursing professional in the field of respiratory medicine. A born leader, she is an outstanding role model for generations of nurses to come and I know she is passionate about being a leading light for respiratory nursing in particular.”
A key priority for our organisation is to encourage and empower our staff to influence and shape high quality care locally, regionally and nationally. Karen certainly does this, and is a perfect example of how empowerment and strong leadership can lead you to positions of great influence.
Ian Joy, Deputy Chief Nurse
One of Karen’s great passions is using CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) for patients with COPD – chronic and often debilitating lung conditions that cause difficulty breathing affecting every day life.
She was named ‘Respiratory Nurse of the Year’ at the 2019 British Journal of Nursing Awards and was also the Respiratory Nurse Researcher of the Year for the Association of Respiratory Nurses in the same year as a result of a study she led on which showed how CBT could reduce anxiety levels, as well as admissions to hospital and visits to A&E, for these patients.
Karen, who also carries out research at Newcastle University, explains: “My special interest is in the psychological impact of respiratory disease. I would like to raise the profile of using cognitive behavioural therapy skills to address symptoms of breathlessness by staying active and focusing on good mental health.
“I am confident that this Society will be a great platform to raise awareness of this important area.”
Peer Reviewed CBT Study
The peer reviewed study was published in ‘ERJ Open Research’ in November 2018, reaching a potential 88 million readers worldwide at that time.
“One of the main symptoms of COPD is breathlessness”, explains Karen. “This is very frightening and often leads to feelings of anxiety. Many health care professionals do not currently screen COPD patients for symptoms of anxiety, even though it can have an impact on their overall health.
She adds: “Feeling anxious has a negative impact on patients’ quality of life and leads to more frequent use of healthcare resources. We wanted to test whether one-to-one CBT sessions delivered by respiratory nurses could reduce symptoms of anxiety and whether this could be a cost-effective intervention.”
COPD is a long-term condition that causes inflammation in the lungs, narrowing of the airways and damaged lung tissue, making breathing difficult. Anxiety often occurs alongside COPD and can mean that patients do less physical activity, leading to loss of fitness, isolation, and deteriorating health overall.
A total of 279 patients with a diagnosis of mild to very severe COPD took part in the trial. Each patient was screened for anxiety using a simple questionnaire that asks patients about their feelings of anxiety and depression over the past week.
Scores of between eight and ten are considered to show mild symptoms, 11-14 indicate moderate symptoms, and scores of more than 15 indicate severe symptoms. All the patients entered into the study scored eight or higher. In total 59% of those screened for entry into the study had raised scores suggesting anxiety is very common in COPD.
Over a three-month period, patients were either given leaflets on anxiety management or given leaflets as well as CBT. The CBT sessions coached patients on how to develop coping strategies to deal with the anxiety caused by breathlessness which help to improve physical activity levels.
Patients completed the questionnaire again after three, six and 12 months to assess how the different treatment methods affected their levels of anxiety. The researchers found that CBT was more effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in COPD patients compared to leaflets alone.
Karen said: “Although the CBT intervention initially resulted in added costs, as respiratory nurses required training in CBT skills, this was balanced by the savings made thanks to less frequent need of hospital and A&E services.
“Reducing the levels of anxiety patients experience has a significant impact on their quality of life as well as their ability to keep physically active and may improve survival in the long-term. Our research shows that front-line respiratory staff can deliver this intervention efficiently and effectively.”
