Naomi House and Jacksplace update
Expansion of our Practice Education Team
The Hospital Saturday Fund very generously provided Naomi House & Jacksplace with a £2,000 donation towards the work of our Practice Educators, and in particular for the purpose of expanding the team.
Our Practice Educators are highly qualified nursing staff who constantly update the training of our staff to meet the changing needs of life-limited and life-threatened children and young people using our services. The team has expanded over the past year from five to six, with each member of the team taking on a specialist role in the delivery of different aspects of care.
Recently the Practice Education team have received training in the delivery of intravenous and subcutaneous infusions, which they have cascaded on to the rest of the nursing team.
One newly referred child was receiving insulin via a pump; our Practice Educators arranged for a specialist diabetes specialist nurse to come to Naomi House and deliver training to our senior nurses so that the child could come to the hospice for a short stay. Although the child’s mother stayed in house with her child, she was able to have a full night’s sleep, and will hopefully be confident to have a longer break in the future.
We also recently supported the family of an 18 month old who was so ill that he had never been able to leave the intensive care unit in hospital.
His parents were desperate for a break from that environment to spend some quality family time with their child. While they were here they enjoyed a music session, used the sensory room and were able to sleep in the same room as their child. They could access the hospice gardens and were able to take lots of lovely photos, away from the hospital’s clinical setting. This visit was only possible because of the high skill set of our nurses, thanks to the constant training and ‘upskilling’ of our Practice Educators.
We are extremely grateful to the Hospital Saturday Fund for their grant which has helped to ensure the vital work of this specialist team.
