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The Robert Tiffany Lectureship was created by the Board of Directors of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care to pay tribute to Robert Tiffany and his work and to keep the memory of Robert alive.
For those who knew Robert, it is hard to believe that it is now already 3 1/2 years ago that his untimely death occurred, as we still feel the gap.
For those of you who came into cancer nursing more recently and who do not know so much about Robert Tiffany, I want to give a short tribute to Robert and his work.
Robert started his career in cancer nursing in 1967 when he went to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London to undertake an oncology nursing course, and 26 years later he had transformed the hospital and the specialism of cancer nursing beyond recognition.
His great commitment to cancer care spawned from the belief that nurses could dramatically change the care given to patients, and it was this vision which drove him relentlessly forward throughout his lifetime.
We must realize that during the 70's the mere mention of cancer instilled fear into every patient and was assimilated with an immediate sentence of death, loss of control, pain, etc.
Robert started a lifelong campaign to overturn those misconceptions. He proved that skilled nurses had a crucial role in preventing cancer, in early detection, and in improving the quality of live for people with cancer.
He made the Royal Marsden a very special place in the first place for the patients: a place where pride and tremendous hope ruled, and not despair, and where patients became involved in their own care.
But the Royal Marsden also became a shining example for the recognition of nurses' clinical skills.
He fought hard for nurses to be educated, right up to master degree level, and he encouraged his staff to become involved in research and concentrated all his energy and skill on the specialty of cancer nursing.
But Robert did not only head nursing in his own hospital. He shared his talents on a much wider scale on a national and international level. It was Robert who organised the first International Conference on Cancer Nursing in London in 1978, and he played an important role in the international conferences in 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1992. He was a founding member and inspirational leader of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care and of the European Oncology Nursing Society, and he became the voice of oncology nursing in the whole world for everybody who wanted to listen. And for those who didn't, he always found ways to make them listen. It surely would take too long to mention all his achievements for cancer nursing worldwide.
To say he was an inspiration is an understatement because there are thousands of nurses who never met him, but owe him a great debt, although Robert never saw it that way. He exposede them to the high professional standards he himself strove continuously to maintain and improve. He brought great credit to our profession and increased knowledge to a worldwide audience.
But first of all, he was a truly committed nurse who always remained faithful to the patient's cause to the very end and was a strong advocate on their behalf. He did all this with humour and good will and always managed to enlighten his message with jokes and funny stories. Working with Robert meant a lot of work, but also a lot of laughing and good fun.
So to keep the memory alive, I now want to introduce to you Jessica Corner, who will present the second Robert Tiffany Lecture.