End of life care month – through the eyes of a community clinical nurse specialist

It’s end of life care month. As we continue to share our knowledge and guidance of how to treat patients nearing the end of their lives, it’s also important to remember the work of colleagues at community charities and hospices in our region.

Caroline Wheeldon is a community clinical nurse specialist who works at the Hospice of St. Francis (HOSF) in Berkhamstead. Here Caroline shares with us an experience she had while working with our crews, who demonstrated their care, compassion and understanding with an end of life care patient:

Another community nurse and I visited a patient at his home. He was on the floor and we were unable to get him up. His wife called 999 and a clinician arrived after within 15 minutes.

The paramedic was compassionate and listened to our handover and understood the palliative nature of the situation. He worked with my colleague and I to decide on the best plan, before an ambulance crew then arrived.

The patient had no DNACPR in place, so the crew and I spoke to the patient’s wife. Both of us were frank about his condition and the risks associated with taking him to hospital.

We found out that there were no hospice beds available at that time. Due to the rapid deterioration in the patient’s condition, no care package in place and no equipment available at his home, hospital transport was the best option. This allowed our patient to be cared for and made comfortable. This was agreed with his wife. The paramedics called through to A&E and advised a dying patient was on his way into the hospital.

All three paramedics showed compassion and a caring approach towards both the patient and his family.

When I visited the patient’s wife during my bereavement visit, she told me that the paramedics were very supportive and empathetic during the journey to hospital.

There was a great amount of teamwork between the HOSF team and paramedics. Thank you to you all.

Published 12th April, 2017