Meet Loren: Director of Nursing and why Palliative Care Week matters
“We need to make sure that palliative care is not the taboo subject, and that actually, if you access us sooner, there's so much more that we can offer.”
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- Meet Loren: Director of Nursing and why Palliative Care Week matters
As Director of Nursing at Thames Hospice, Loren has a wide-ranging role spanning patient safety, clinical quality, service development and supporting the people who provide care every day.
Loren describes herself as being in a ‘really privileged position’, able to look both internally at what is happening within the Hospice and externally at developments across the healthcare landscape.
“I learn an incredible amount from my team, and I try and share that knowledge externally. Sharing is incredibly important amongst the hospice sector and so I also bring back to the team the ideas and learnings shared by others so, I see myself as in between, which is a lovely place to be.”
No two days are the same
One of the things Loren enjoys most about her role is its variety. No two days are the same, and she makes a conscious effort to stay connected to colleagues across the Hospice.
“Every day is different, which I love. It's a very rewarding role, which has so much diversity in it.
“I love to spend time with the teams, go and touch base with people, and see the wonderful work that is happening.”
Always learning and improving
Clinical quality, governance and patient safety are a significant part of Loren’s role, and she is passionate about continually learning and improving.
“We can always improve, and there's always something to learn in healthcare so you're never going to be perfect. But always striving for improvement is what drives me.”
For Loren, this also means creating a culture where people feel safe to acknowledge mistakes, learn from them and share those lessons with others.
“We always try to create a culture where it is safe to make a mistake. However, we also then need to learn from what has happened to try and prevent it from happening again, and sharing that with others because we're all human.”
Palliative care is more than people think
During Palliative Care Week, Loren wants people to understand that palliative care is not just about the final weeks of life.
“Palliative care is the support someone needs from the diagnosis of a life-limiting or terminal illness. I think people often think it's within the last couple of weeks of someone's life, and it's not always. We can be there at the very beginning of an individual’s diagnosis, throughout their illness and at the end of their life. We have many different holistic pathways that a patient and their loved ones can access throughout their illness to enhance their quality of life and wellbeing.”
Loren believes people can benefit from accessing support earlier, rather than waiting until they reach a crisis.
“We need to make sure that palliative care is not the taboo subject, and that actually, if you access us sooner, there's so much more that we can offer.”
Earlier conversations can help patients think about their wishes and how they would like to be cared for.
“It's about how we can speak with people earlier to understand their wishes, possible ceilings of care and their preferences to ensure that the patient’s wellbeing and choices are front and centre of the care they receive.”
‘It’s not what you think’
The theme of this year’s Palliative Care Week, ‘It’s not what you think’, also speaks to one of Loren’s biggest misconceptions about hospice care.
“A lot of people think that a hospice is a place where people just go to die, like a one way street. In fact, hospices are so much more than this. Hospices do deliver excellent end of life care for many people, it’s a happy place where sad things happen. But hospices also offer so much more, such as rehabilitation symptom management and advance care planning.”
For Loren, challenging those perceptions is a shared responsibility.
“I would ask people to challenge their own thinking around what hospices do and take a moment to look at the wonderful work their local hospice does.”
Time to care
For Loren, excellent hospice and palliative care is also about having the time to care properly for people.
“You've got the time to care for people at such an important time, which is so vital.”
Having time to talk and communicate with patients and their loved ones can make a significant difference to their experience.
“The more we can talk with people and utilise the brilliant communication skills that we have, the more people can benefit from our services.”
Care beyond the Hospice walls
Another misconception Loren wants to challenge is that hospice care only happens inside the Hospice. Much of Thames Hospice’s work takes place in the community.
“A lot of what we do, 80% of what we do in fact, is out in our local community and often in our patient's own homes.”
Challenging perceptions this Palliative Care Week
Ultimately, Loren hopes Palliative Care Week will encourage people to think differently about palliative care and have conversations about it earlier.
Her message for Palliative Care Week is simple:
“I think the most important thing around palliative care is that we all challenge our perceptions and be curious about hospices and hospice care. They are often wonderful places, filled with caring people, who want to help”