Hypnosis for Colorectal Patients

A Nurse’s Journey

Incorporating hypnosis into nursing was a challenging endeavour to say the least.

As a surgical nurse I used to accompany patients through one of the most difficult journeys of their lives, dealing with a cancer diagnosis and having surgery all at once.

Nursing in most cases is not a profession, is a calling and for me being there for my patients was a privilege.

When I was reflecting on a day’s work, I felt helpless at times, powerless against death and against complications I couldn’t predict or control, but there was one thing I couldn’t ignore, the effect pain had on my patients and their reaction to morphines when I administered them.

This is how hypnosis appeared into my life and took over the way I thought about nursing.

I would like to share with you my journey from conventional nursing into developing a research study to investigate how hypnosis could be used in colorectal surgery.

The path to researching hypnosis was not an easy one especially within the NHS and I would like to share it with you and hopefully discover together what is possible when you follow your passion.

Ana-Maria Toth is a clinical nurse researcher, working within the NHS. She worked as a nurse in various specialities, became a Junior Sister and entered the research department in a unique role as a nurse researcher, developing her own research study.

She won the Somerset Our Colleagues Research Award for her pioneering research into the potential benefits of hypnosis for patients recovering from colectomy surgery.

Her study has been advertised on ITV West, BBC News Online and BBC Radio Somerset, The Sunday Times and Wales online.