My favourite nursing topic at the moment is palliative care.
As a community nurse we often care for people that are at the end of their lives within their own homes and a lot of people choose this option as they want to be in their own environment with friends and family around them.

10 weeks ago my grandad died suddenly on the same day that his wife, my gran, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Sadly just 7 weeks later she passed away as well. Towards the end my gran was put onto an end of life pathway and a syringe driver for pain relief and sedation which allowed her to slip away without pain or anxiety. The nursing staff were amazing and it allowed me to experience first hand the benefits of good end of life care and how it can benefit the family as well as the patient and can turn dying from something scary into something peaceful.

Having so recently experienced bereavement I thought that I would not want to visit patients who were dying or to have to attend the house after the death but I got a call out on my evening shift during the week and had to go as I was the only one available and it made me realize that death isn't something to be avoided, it is part of life and should be embraced as such and the more we discuss and talk about it with the patient and family, the less scary and worrying it becomes for them. So I am focusing on learning all the information that I can about end of life care so that I can help my patients and their families when that time comes.

Lynsay x