Latest news with #theatrenurse
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
From medical theatre to the rugby arena, Linda Djougang's focus is on successful outcomes
This summer is a rugby summer for Linda Djougang. Contracted to play in the upcoming Rugby World Cup , it seems like a stark contrast that when not lining out for Ireland in the frontrow, she works as a theatre nurse in Tallaght University Hospital . Then again, specific, comprehensive care in a specialised unit could easily describe the work of a prop scrumming down to leverage angles and pressure points. For the 29-year-old, who grew up in Cameroon before moving to Rush in north Dublin as an eight-year-old, there are very real similarities between the theatre and the arena. Timing, process, encouragement, resourcefulness and maybe even triage. Administering anaesthesia is, thankfully, no longer part of the modern game. READ MORE 'Oh massively,' she says. 'I think it is so important. I always feel what I do in nursing is the same as in rugby. For me now, I have experience on the field but what I gain from nursing I can put into rugby. 'Like the team working, being sharp, the quick decisions on and off the field, being precise, quick thinking. I problem-solve and usually that's what happens on the field. 'When it comes to a penalty, what do we do next? When you play, who's going to stand up and make the decisions?' Djougang is a former track-and-field athlete. By the time she was in Trinity College, she had still barely heard of rugby. Then she signed up for tag rugby to meet people. Bang, that was it. Neve Jones and Linda Djougang celebrate Deirbhile Nic a Bháird's try during Ireland's World Cup warm-up victory against Scotland at Virgin Media Park in Cork. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho First she was a flanker, then a loosehead and now a tighthead. She travels to Franklin's Gardens, Northampton, for Ireland's first Pool C match against Japan as the most experienced player on the Irish squad with 48 caps. If Djougang lines out against Japan and then Spain, she will be the only player on the team to potentially face New Zealand in Brighton for the final pool game with 50 caps. 'I think now it is really the mentality and mindset that goes in, it's so important,' she says. 'It's really the mentality and sometimes caps don't represent . . . yeah, you have the experience, but experience is really what you face in front of you. I think last year in Vancouver it really opened our eyes, where we played the likes of New Zealand and were able to beat them. 'We had less caps then. Now we have grown and gained even more experience, and I think it just shows the players sometimes have to forget about the caps. It's more about our mindset and ability to focus on what's in front of us.' Vancouver last year was the WXV1 tournament. Launched in 2023, it consists of three tiers of nations. Djougang and her team-mates were in Tier 1 as one of the three top sides in last year's Six Nations championship. Ireland secured a sensational, last-gasp 29-27 win over world champions New Zealand in their opening match. Replacement Erin King, who is injured and not travelling to the World Cup, scored her second try of the game to level the scores in the final minute, with outhalf Dannah O'Brien kicking the decisive conversion off the upright. The scalp of the Black Ferns was transformative for the Irish team in their thinking and expectations. With the win, the dial turned sharply. 'We were the underdog going into Tier 1 in Vancouver in the WXV1,' says Djougang. Linda Djougang celebrates after Ireland's dramatic victory against New Zealand in Vancouver, Canada, last year. Photograph: Travis Prior/Inpho 'People saw that we were kind of worried going and playing against the likes of New Zealand, Canada and USA – top-tier teams. 'But we came second in Vancouver. No one thought that. I think people saw us then as underdogs, but the fact that we beat the world champions . . . we came from 10th in the world to fifth now, so I think we have lost that underdog title. 'We don't want to be underdogs. I think that we want every team to know that. Respect us because we've shown what we are capable of. We won't be going into this World Cup as underdogs.' The intensity of the group springs from a World Cup four years ago that Ireland didn't attend, a defeat to Scotland in the qualifiers sending the team spiralling into relative obscurity, or, certainly to the fringes of the first order of teams. Ten of the current squad were involved in the game. [ Rugby Ivana Kiripati: 'I am a Samoan girl, born in New Zealand, doing life in Ireland – how cool is that?' Opens in new window ] The feeling then of a World Cup taking place in New Zealand without Ireland was that something hugely important had passed them by. It makes the next few weeks even more freighted and crucially places Ireland back in the centre of the rugby world – a position where the players believe they have a right to be. 'It makes it feel extra-special, especially with the 10 of us that have been through that journey, and we know how we felt in Parma,' says Djougang speaking at the Specsavers Media Day. 'I feel that we appreciate it even more, because we know what the journey was and we know what we've been through. Sometimes, for you to really appreciate something, you have to have that. I think it's something that really connects us even more, the fact that we have now an opportunity to do something that we always wanted.' Four long years of wait and finally a summer of rugby in the World Cup arena.
Daily Mail
29-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
The doctor told me the unusual freckle on my back was 'nothing to worry about'. He was wrong... and the news only got worse from there
A mum is urging Australians to take skin checks seriously after a terrifying brush with cancer that saw her diagnosed with nine melanomas - despite being dismissed by a senior GP who told her to 'wait 12 months'. Melissa Bates, 49, from Stroud in the New South Wales Hunter Region, had always considered herself sun smart. She didn't sunbake, wore protective clothing, and got annual check-ups. As a theatre nurse with 16 years of experience, she thought she was doing everything right. But at 43, during a routine visit to the doctor for her daughter's cold, Melissa's life changed. 'I wasn't even there for myself,' she told FEMAIL. 'The young GP registrar said he had some time to listen to my chest - because I also had a cold - and so I lifted my shirt up. 'That's when he noticed something on my back and said it looked really suspicious. He wanted to do a biopsy on the spot.' Melissa asked for a second opinion from the senior GP at the practice who took a look and told her not to worry. 'He told me it looked fine and to just get it checked in a year,' she said. Exhausted and sick with asthma, Melissa didn't follow up. It wasn't until months later - after a cracked tooth while mountain bike riding landed her in town again - that the young doctor asked about the mole. 'He was so persistent. He said, "I still feel really strongly about it". So I finally agreed to the biopsy,' Melissa recalled. The result? Melanoma in situ - the earliest form of skin cancer, confined to the top layer of skin. Left untreated, it could have progressed. 'It was so lucky. That GP potentially saved my life,' she said. Melissa underwent a wide local excision, only to find the margins weren't clear - meaning not all of the melanoma had been removed. She sought out a plastic surgeon in Newcastle, where she was urgently re-operated on in a clinic room due to long hospital waitlists. Unfortunately, that first scare wasn't the last. Over the next several years, more melanomas appeared, one after another, all in situ, but each requiring surgery. 'In the space of a few years, I had nine of them,' Melissa said. 'They kept appearing near the same spot on my back. And then, on my arm and leg. Every three months I'd go back to the doctor and have another part of me cut out.' Despite no family history and a careful lifestyle, Melissa became a regular at skin clinics. Her experience was so profound that she completed a postgraduate dermatology degree and now splits her week between the operating theatre and working in dermatology at John Hunter Hospital. 'Now I watch people's skin like a hawk,' she said. 'I catch things all the time.' But the experience also left emotional scars. As a single mum to daughters Isabel, 16, and Amelia, 14, Melissa admits her greatest fear was what would happen if her cancer had advanced. 'They were only eight and ten when I was first diagnosed. I remember thinking, "What if this gets worse? Who's going to look after them? What happens to the farm, the animals, everything?" 'I didn't want to have to go through chemo or radiation. I didn't want to die of something that could have been caught earlier.' Now, more than two years melanoma-free, Melissa remains vigilant. She checks her skin constantly, keeps a photographic record of any suspicious spots, and teaches her daughters sun safety 'like it's second nature'. 'They wear hats, sunglasses, sunscreen - they're educated and that's key.' She also credits mountain biking and a strong network of lifelong friends with helping her manage the mental toll. 'It's how I deal with the anxiety,' she said. 'That, and talking to my stepdad, who's a GP. He was shocked when I kept getting melanomas. He's all about statistics, and even he said my risk should've been almost zero.' Melissa has changed GP clinics and has never returned to the senior doctor who told her to 'wait and see'. 'Take a photo. Right now. If you notice a spot, take a picture and compare it again in three months. Don't wait,' she advised. 'Because I did - and I was lucky. But it could have been so much worse.' Moshy Dermatologist Doctor Ludi Ge told FEMAIL year-round skin protection is more important than ever with winter a critical time to not only remain vigilant about skin health but a prime time to get your skin checked. 'In winter UV levels can reach 3 or higher, which is sufficient to cause skin damage and photo ageing, while the cumulative effect of daily exposure, even in cooler months, increases the risk of skin cancer,' Doctor Ge said. 'People often associate sunburn with heat, but UV rays penetrate clouds and can harm the skin regardless of temperature, even when driving in the car. 'Skin cancers can appear in different forms including lesions like a mole or scab that won't heal, bleeding on light contact, changes in size and colour and flat moles that become raised or develop an irregular edge.' Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world killing one Australian every six hours. It is the most common cancer in Australians aged 20-39. Latest cancer data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows melanoma incidence rates are still on the rise in Australia, with 70 cases per 100,000 people in 2024 - up from 53 per 100,000 in 2000. 'While summer's intense sun prompts caution seeing people actively applying sunscreen when they're heading to the beach or playing sport, but in winter's cooler climate it can lull people into a false sense of security and they forget to apply sunscreen or wear a hat,' Dr Ge said. 'When it comes to skin checks people need to be monitoring areas that don't necessarily get the most exposure, including in between the fingers and toes, on the scalp and hairline, the soles of your feet and the abdomen. 'Don't let the cooler weather fool you, incorporating sun protection into your daily routine 365 days of the year and making skin checks an annual habit could save your life.' Melissa's journey is a powerful reminder that even the most routine visit can become life-saving - and that listening to your gut, and to the right doctor, has never been more important.
The Guardian
18-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
London's BSix college helped me gain qualifications and integrate into British society
I feel saddened by the news about BSix college in Hackney, east London, losing its A-levels (Staff and students fight loss of A-levels at London college helping disadvantaged learners, 10 June). I am for ever grateful to have been a student at BSix. I came in the UK as an unaccompanied minor aged 16 and English isn't my first language. I didn't understand a word of it. A friend of mine helped me get into BSix to learn English in January 2007 – the course was called English as a second language (Esol) then. The staff really supported me until I was confident enough to read, write, listen to and speak English. After a year, I was given the opportunity to do my BTec first diploma in sciences, equivalent to GCSEs, and GCSE English and maths. Afterwards, I did my BTec national diploma in sciences for two years, equivalent to AS and A2, which enabled me to go to university to study biomedical sciences and then further my studies in adult nursing. I am currently working as a theatre nurse in Eastbourne district general hospital. I would say that BSix gives great opportunities to young people from different backgrounds to get basic requirements to further their studies in the UK. It hugely contributes to our integration into British society and we later contribute positively towards the development of the NikoulareEastbourne, East Sussex
