When I first qualified as a nurse I worked at the Hallamshire Hospital Respiratory Unit and on the Cystic Fibrosis ward and then at Weston Park.
All the time I was doing that, though, I knew that I was interested in palliative care so when the opportunity came up, I moved to St Luke’s.
To me, this is the sort of nursing I always wanted to do - getting to spend much more time with the patients, getting to know them and getting to know their families too.
I have had people say working in this area must take it out of you but I’ve never really thought about it that way.
Obviously we are not just about end of life care - we also look at symptom management and help with pain control and because you’re working with patients that much more closely, you get to know them, you get to know their personalities.
Don’t get me wrong - of course there are some sad days but I feel it is a privilege to look after these people.