Hospice provides invaluable service to nursing homes
WEXFORD Hospice provides an invaluable service to the people of Wexford and the palliative care it helps provide people with across the county is immeasurable.
For some that care is provided while they remain living at home and for others it’s provided through collaborative and associated with nursing homes in the county.
The Director of Nursing in Kerlogue Nursing Home, Mary Shanley, spoke to this newspaper about the significant contribution the Hospice makes to communities all over the county and also the importance of palliative care within a nursing home setting.
‘What can anyone say about palliative care,’ said Ms Shanley.
‘It’s an invaluable asset in our day-to-day work,’ she added.
In Kerlogue, if a resident is in need of palliative care he or she will be referred by a GP to the palliative team whose members will then take over ‘end-of-life’ care for the person concerned.
‘It is a tremendous support that offers the resident, their relatives and staff great assistance,’ said Ms Shanley.
She said the palliative team offers great support to other staff members too through the sharing of knowledge.
‘We can choose a subject that we want to talk about or learn about and they will come in and do it for us which is great,’ said Ms Shanley.
‘It would also be hard to quantify the benefit that having home and nursing home hospice care provides to communities around the county,’ she added.
‘Obviously, palliative care provides great support to the person in need of such care but it is also of enormous benefit to their relatives as well.’
Ms Shanley also complimented everyone who works in the Hope Cancer Support centre which, she said, provides another invaluable service to the people of county Wexford and beyond.
‘People can get great solace and support attending there,’ she said.
‘It’s another tremendous asset to the community.’
Ms Shanley said that in Kerlogue Nursing Home there is palliative care and in other nursing homes, such as Knockeen, there are palliative beds.
She praised the palliative team for being ‘thoroughly professional and extremely knowledgeable’ and said that’s important for all staff.
She also complimented the people of county Wexford who she said are always very supportive of fundraising initiatives for the Hope Centre and for Wexford Hospice Homecare.
‘I think Wexford people are very good for supporting [fundraising] and there is great generosity in this county,’ she said.
‘We also do a bit of fundraising here at times and it’s very well supported,’ she added.
As with many aspects of health related issues for many people the importance of palliative care is only realised for many people when they, or a loved one close to them, has to avail of it.
‘I suppose unless it hits your own door it doesn’t have the same impact but that’s just human nature,’ said Ms Shanley.
People who support fundraising events in aid of the Hope centre or Hospice Homecare possibly don’t realise the enormous contribution they are making to the lives of others and Ms Shanley said that without such support many services might not be as readily available as they are.
‘The benefit that will be seen after the [actual] event is invaluable and it’s possible that people don’t realise the full significance of their support to fundraising,’ said Ms Shanley.
‘All of the services that be provided are because of such fundraising events,’ she added.
Ms Shanley said she would love to have specialised in palliative care because ‘it’s an area where you can see the difference it makes for people’.
‘It can make life’s journey so much more comfortable for people and it’s great to see that,’ she said.
In addition to the service that Hospice Homecare provides in Wexford Ms Shanley said that the contribution it makes to communities nationwide ‘is tremendous’.
‘We know they are real heroes,’ she said. Ms Shanley has been working in Kerlogue Nursing Home since it opened and she took up her position the day after the second resident entered.
‘It’s an 89-bed facility and it offers a different type of nursing because it’s long-term care and residential care,’ she said.
‘End-of-life nursing is part of that here and when we need the palliative care team it’s very reassuring that they will be there in an instant.’