She has worked in cancer care for over 30 years as a clinical nurse specialist and lead cancer nurse, and has also worked in general management. She has developed strategies for cancer patient involvement and health promotion. Her main area of interest is chemotherapy, in particular home support and oral chemotherapy (the topic of her research for her Master’s degree). After developing a generic patient oral chemotherapy diary, Dr Oakley and her colleague Jo Johnson were awarded the 2008 European Oncology Nursing Society prize for excellence in patient education materials and the 2009 Nursing Standard award for best practice in medication administration. Dr Oakley’s PhD focused on why patients delay presenting with neutropenic sepsis.