Elly, a Senior Staff Nurse on the In-patient Unit describes an average shift and the difference she thinks St Margaret’s makes...
Can you describe an average day?
Difficult question as no day is average! Our days are as organised as they could possibly be. The day starts at 7am with a handover meeting from the night shift at which we discuss each patient and how they have been during the night. This helps us know which patients may require more time and whether they need extra support. After that we start popping in to see each patient, providing breakfast for those who are awake, but if patients are still sleeping, we don’t rudely awaken them!
While each patient sets their own routine for the most part, there are some things that happen at different times of the day.
Breakfast, as with all meals in the hospice is driven by patient choice, what would they like not what we tell them to have. It’s a great time of the day to assess how patients are feeling and it's always nice to have a chat.
Behind the scenes, ward rounds take place, with care and treatment planned with each individual patient and, where possible, those close to them. This may include complex symptom control which can be impacted by physical and psychological factors and fears, family or spiritual concerns or combination of many other issues. For each patient, at different times, it may be different members of the team who are providing the most important aspect of care for them.
Lunchtime, our patients can choose from a wide range on the menu, however if there isn’t anything, they fancy the catering team will quickly rustle something up. The team are committed to providing individual menus adapting to dietary needs and portions. It's all freshly cooked, homemade and our patients love it!
In the afternoon we could be getting ready for admissions or planning for a patient to go home, it is really varied. Obviously now, our visiting is restricted which is unusual for St Margaret’s and possibly through the pandemic the hardest change we’ve had to make. Patients have two named visitors who can visit between 1.30pm to 5.30pm and 6.30pm to 9pm.
It’s not just the In-patient nursing and medical Team that support and care for patients staying with us, they can also have support from the Spiritual Care Team, the Physio Team, Complementary Therapy, Lymphoedema team.
We try to ensure that we take an individual approach to each patient, some patients can be with us for days, some for weeks.
Many patients come in for a short time and then discharged home or to a care home local to them, some patients do die with us and at that point we offer the families support and ensure that even though they are in a clinical environment they are able to make meaningful lasting memories. St Margaret’s support does not end if a patient dies, our bereavement and family support teams continue to provide support those close to our patients.
Together the hospice team provides the best care and support to our patients, from housekeeping to catering everyone communicates really well and everyone has their part to play.
What difference do you and the team make?
As a team we want to make patients feel safe, in a trusting environment where the patients and their families feel cared for, knowing we are working as hard as we can to make their loved one comfortable.
Sometimes our patients need to be able to express their concerns and fears perhaps preferring to express this with our staff as they want to protect those close to them. Listening with our patients is an important part of what we do, and something that we all make time for. Sometimes talking to the hospice team makes it easier to then talk to loved ones.
The word that we hear from patients and their families is ‘angels’. I don’t think any one of us would describe ourselves as that! We’re doing our job, but what is important is that patients and families obviously do recognise that its actually not just a job for us, we care, this is us and we will always go that extra mile, being there for our patients no matter what.
I think the difference we make is when people first come here, they expect it to be a sad place, I don’t think they realise until they’ve visited what a wonderful place it really is. It’s not all doom and gloom it’s a happy environment and the feeling that we get from our patients and their families is that they are so grateful for the hospice. They can feel that it’s a caring place, giving hope and time to spend with their loved ones. We don’t just focus on people’s diagnosis, we care for the whole person and what is really important to them, whether that’s arranging for their beloved pet to come and visit to encouraging relatives to bring in photos and things from home so everything feels more familiar.
We feel privileged by what we do and the team we have, we’re all here for the same reason, even during COVID-19 our patients haven’t changed, their needs haven’t changed, their families haven’t changed and because of that we haven’t changed.
What do you love about your job?
I love working for St Margaret’s because I get to give something back to my community, it's such a privilege and humbling experience working here. I’ve been here 15 years, starting off as a student and I’ve loved every second. I think it’s important that I deliver the care I would expect if I needed St Margaret’s. Everyone here loves what they do.