Sponsor a Nurse

My passion for palliative care developed whilst I worked in ICU, wanting to make a difference and enabling patients and relatives to have a say and a choice. From there I went to Airedale, where as a CNS I was able to make and see the difference this made to the patients and their relatives. Taking the time to really listen to a patient and their loved ones, managing their symptoms, finding out what was important to them now and meeting their wishes can make all the difference to them.

I have always felt it is an honour and a privilege to work in palliative care, patients and their loved ones are letting a complete stranger into their lives at what is the worst time of their lives. To treat them as a person and not as a disease or illness - no matter what, the person still exists and they define the illness and not the illness defining them. Giving them back their lives in an adapted form and allowing them to shout, laugh, cry and scream, enabling them to feel human again without the fear of upsetting a loved one.

People always say it must be sad working in palliative and end-of-life care but this is far from the truth. Yes it can be sad at times and we also cry with the patient and their loved ones but there are more smiles and laughter in Bury Hospice. This is the one thing that is commented on more than anything, that it is a happy place and not sad like expected and patients and families like that. It can be extremely hard at times, especially when you can relate on a personal level to the patient and loved ones but that to me just shows we care.