A selfless group of six nurses at Dublin's Mater Hospital are raising money to fund non-medical items for in-patients to make the ward feel more like home.
A selfless group of six nurses at Dublin's Mater Hospital are raising money to fund non-medical items for in-patients to make the ward feel more like home.
The oncology nurses who work on St Vincent's Ward in the hospital are running the Women's Mini Marathon on June 2, to raise funds to buy items such as fitness equipment for those who are staying long term on the ward.
“It is something we decided to do when we saw the effects of the long hospital stays on our patients. Many patients spend 6 months to a year on the ward in their rooms every day with only maybe one or two days at home after each cycle of chemotherapy,” Joanne O'Sullivan told FamilyFriendlyHQ.
She explained how after a round of chemotherapy some patients may be too unwell to leave the hospital, others their room. A small bit of comfort or normality would make this stay a lot easier for these patients.
“After each cycle of chemotherapy there is a period of time where the patients’ blood counts are very low (called neutropenia) and during this time the patients are very susceptible to infections. Because of this, patients are confined to their individual rooms and rarely leave these rooms.
"Therefore spending most of their days on the ward. As nurses working on the ward, we wanted to try and improve the monotonous hospital stay for these patients and improve their comfort in any way we could.”
Joanne told FamilyFriendlyHQ how one nurse did a survey to see what would make these patients and their families that little bit more comfortable in their prolonged hospital stays and they decided to fundraise for it.
“One of the nurses did a survey to ask the patients what would make their stay more comfortable. Exercise bikes and entertainment equipment were high on the list as well as a fridge-freezer for the family room.”
They explain on their GoFundMe page: “Unfortunately, we all know of somebody who has the affected with cancer. We as a group of six oncology nurses would like to raise money in an effort to provide a more homely environment for our patients. Some of our patient on the oncology/haematology ward spend 6 months to a year in our care. Our aim is to try to improve their experience as much as we can from diagnosis to discharge”
Check out their GoFundMe page to donate or find out more.
Laura Doyle, Mum of 4. Kyle 9, Noa Belle 4, Briar 2 and Milla 12 months. Breastfeeder, co-sleeper, coffee drinker. Staying positive and inspired by the chaos of it all. Follow her on Instagram.
