Speakers
Plenary Sessions
Tthe session will begin with a Welcome to Country and a formal opening from our Congress Chair Suzanne Bartlett.
Cancer nurses are at the forefront of innovation, designing and leading models of care that improve access, quality, patient experience and continuity across the cancer journey. This plenary celebrates nurse-led practice across screening, treatment monitoring and supportive care, demonstrating how nursing leadership is reshaping what is possible within contemporary cancer services.
Through real-world examples, speakers will showcase advanced practice, independent decision-making, proactive risk management, and the impact of nurses leading care in increasingly complex environments. From specialist-led colposcopy services and proactive oral therapy monitoring to the SexFICC Project’s work in equipping the workforce to identify and respond to sexual function and intimacy concerns, this session highlights how nurses are not only responding to system pressures, but actively designing smarter, more compassionate models of care.
Attendees will gain insight into how nurse-led innovation improves access, supports earlier intervention, normalises often-missed care needs, and strengthens person-centred care across diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.
Shannon Philp was named HESTA Nurse of the Year in 2021 for her leadership in nursing education and patient-centred cancer care, and was awarded the Cancer Australia Jeannie Ferris Award in 2019 for improving outcomes for patients. As Australia’s first Nurse Practitioner in gynaecological oncology, she has led the design and implementation of innovative nurse-led models that improve access, streamline referral pathways and enhance outcomes for women with gynaecological cancers.
Her work spans clinical practice, research and postgraduate education, integrating evidence-based innovation with system redesign to elevate cancer nursing practice. With a focus on improving access, continuity and patient experience, she established a nurse practitioner-led colposcopy clinic and enhanced recovery and surveillance programs that demonstrate how advanced practice nurses can innovate, integrate services, educate the workforce and advocate for sustainable, patient-centred models of care.