Silent voices, hidden practices: exploring undiscovered aspects of cancer nursing

This is an abridged version of the sixth annual Robert Tiffany Lecture presented on 14 March 2001 at the Royal Marsden's National Cancer Nursing Conference in London. Robert Tiffany was the chief nurse at the Royal Marsden, London from 1976 until 1993. The lecture is named after him to commemorate his work establishing oncology nursing across the world and, more specifically, developing its practice at the Royal Marsden. This lecture examined the silences that exist in nursing practice--the things that nurses do not talk about or even understand as part of their work. Drawing on research that explored nurse-patient relationships in cancer and palliative care settings, this lecture highlighted the closeness and intimate nature of such relationships and reflected on their impact on nurses, patients and nursing practice.