Lewis-Manning House

Happy in my job!

Most people will know me by now as I have been at Lewis-Manning House for nearly 6 years.

In April 1997 I made the move from acute medicine at Bournemouth Hospital to join the team at Lewis-Manning as a part-time Staff nurse in Day Care. In 2001 I took on the role of home visit Staff Nurse and visit patients in their homes to assess whether they might benefit from the services provided in the Day Care at Lewis-Manning.

It is enormously valuable to visit people in their own homes. I gain a better understanding of how they manage at home. First impressions are important and often I am the first face people see from Lewis-Manning House.

My role is to assess their needs and problems, taking a history of their illness and check what treatment they have had or are receiving. I explain about Day Care and what we can offer.

Sometimes I need to clear up any misconceptions about what a specialist palliative day care centre is all about. Some people see Lewis-Manning Day Care as a lot of old people `sitting round in a circle playing bingo.' Others are concerned about seeing ill people or that people only talk about their illness and nothing else.

In fact, day care is not like that at all. People experience day care as their "club", where they can be social or quiet as the mood takes them, and where they can talk to experienced professionals about their problems. It can be useful to visit the House and drop in for coffee first if someone has concerns.