From 'Treading the Boards' to 'Treading the Wards'! |
| Thursday, 10 September 2009 |
 Let me introduce myself, my name is Angie Pymm and in September 2005, at the grand old age of 40-something, I returned to university to study for a nursing degree. I had been working for many years as an actress, but had become disenchanted with this career and was tired of being constantly on tour. This disenchantment coincided with my father’s illness and I had taken time out to stay with my dad while he was in hospital. During that time I was struck by the nurses’ role and what a real difference they made in the lives of patients and their relatives. I can remember thinking, enviously, that these people were doing a real job whereas I earned a living by just putting on make-up and wigs and pretending to be someone else!
I applied to the University of Hertfordshire, never thinking that I would be accepted. So after my interview I was delighted to hear that I had a place on the course. At that time I was convinced I wanted to work in ITU, probably because I had observed nurses working in that area and had been impressed by their knowledge and expertise. However, at the end of my first year of training I realised that the times I had valued most had been spent with people who were approaching the end of life. As a student I had the luxury of spending more time with patients and I knew that they and their relatives valued having someone to talk to about the journey they were on, but it was often difficult for staff on a busy hospital ward to find that extra time.
The idea began to form that I may like to work in palliative care, but I realised that I had never even been inside a hospice and that I needed to work in that environment to ensure that it was the right place for me. Luckily, the Peace Hospice was advertising for bank Health Care Assistants. I applied and started working shifts in the Inpatient Unit (IPU) during my third year of training. I wondered how I would fit in because people think hospices are hushed, hallowed places and I am by nature very outgoing and, dare I say it, rather loud! However, the hospice was not the quiet, sombre place I was expecting. Of course, there is sometimes sadness, but it is more often a place of genuine joy. Although we deal with death, we also celebrate life wholeheartedly. Visit IPU and you are far more likely to hear singing than sobbing!
I knew immediately that it was the right environment for me and when I graduated in September 2008 I started working as a full time staff nurse in IPU at the Peace Hospice. Working at the Peace has been remarkable experience. I am privileged to work with an amazing and supportive team of people who are all passionate about the importance of palliative care. Apart from nurses and doctors, the team also includes family support workers, complementary therapists, admin staff, catering staff, cleaning staff and an amazing, and supportive, army of volunteers, without whom we could not provide the same quality of care. Because of the support of this team and our high staff/patient ratio, the nursing staff are able to join patients on their sometimes difficult journey from referral through to discharge or death, to support them and their relatives. Ongoing training is provided to enable staff to work effectively and last year I completed the Palliative Care module run by St Luke’s Hospice. I hope next January to begin an MSc in Palliative Care.
I believe end of life care is so important because we only have one chance to get it right. Furthermore, the relatives will remember this experience for the rest of their lives and it will, eventually, have an impact on the way that they prepare for their own deaths. As Dame Cicely Saunders, (Founder of the Modern Hospice Movement), said “How people die remains in the memory of those who live on”. I work to try to ensure patients get a “good death”, whatever that means to them, and that their relatives carry good memories of that death into their futures.
I have the best job in the world and my question to any other trained nurses out there is – have you ever thought about working in Palliative Care? It really is such a rewarding field of nursing, so please, if you think you may be interested in joining us, call Deborah Sumner, Inpatient Nurse Manager for an informal chat on 01923 330330 - and we do currently have vacancies!
If you would like to view our vacancies - please click here
|
’)
