Hospiscare’s rapid response team visits end-of-life patients in the community who need immediate support and medication. The team works closely with our clinical nurse specialists and GPs to make sure symptoms are managed as best as they possibly can.
Debbie Fowler is the senior nurse on the team. Here, she explains more about her role, and why this Hospiscare service is so vital.
“Many people think of the hospice as a place where people go to die. Actually, many more would prefer to die at home, surrounded by family, friends, and often their much-loved pets.
Most patients aren’t frightened of dying. They’re frightened of the dying process. We do our utmost to honour somebody’s wishes.
“If they want to stay at home, we will do everything in our power to facilitate that. Most importantly, that the care and medical support gets to them, without any delays.
“The psychological aspect of the patients we look after is huge. It’s a very difficult thing to know that you’re dying, and a family has to watch that happening without being able to change the outcome. We offer a lot of psychological support to them at the time of the visit, or on the telephone, and we can also make referrals to our supportive care team and other agencies.
“It’s an old cliche, but we really do make a difference. We are allowed into somebody’s home at their very worst time, and we can help to make things a bit better.
Obviously, we can’t change the outcome, but we can make it a bit better. It’s an absolute privilege.
“It can be very emotional, and we do shed a few tears. I think if we didn’t, we would be in the wrong job.
“We do a lot of reflecting amongst ourselves, and we talk through things that have happened. We take time for individual and team reviews and learning so that we can constantly be developing and improving our service to meet the needs of our patients and families. We support each other and there are plenty of hugs. Hospiscare also provides a lot of other support to help work through anything that we find tough. “Hospice care isn’t all about dying and death.
There’s a lot of living to do before you die. That’s what we try and help with.
“This is absolutely, unquestionably, the most rewarding part of my career.”
