Year of the Nurse: Message of thanks

2020 marks the first ever Year of the Nurse. We’re celebrating here at St Elizabeth Hospice by taking the chance to chat to our nursing staff about what their job means to them and connect to our patients and families who wish to share their thanks to the dedicated team.

This week, we’re highlighting a wonderful message from Philip Mann, whose wife Audrey was cared for by St Elizabeth Hospice. Philip said:

“As a family, we cannot say ‘thank you’ enough for helping Audrey to stay at home with us, which is where she wanted to be.  

The amazing care from the hospice team, who visited every morning and evening, gave Audrey the dignity and love she needed, to feel as comfortable as possible in her last few days.

We felt so supported as a family, from the first time Lizzie came out to visit us, to the evening Audrey died – we never needed to feel alone throughout the most difficult times.

Everyone from the hospice that looked after Audrey was absolutely wonderful. We hope we don’t miss anyone off the list, but we have especially thankful hearts for the team that we can recall:  Lizzie, Julie, Louise, Andrea, Debbie, Judith, Sarah G, Sarah B, Cara, Katrina, Karen, Sue, Theresa, Emily, Mikaela and Linda.

Also, the many members of staff we spoke with on the telephone: Martin, Kevin, Maida, Mark, Lynn, and the incredibly kind, Julie, who came to us when Audrey died, thank you.  

You were all such an encouragement to us, thank you.  We, in turn, would like to encourage you, and cheer you on in the great work you are doing!”

If you want to share your own message of thanks with us to share online, please email us here.

How else can I get involved?

You can help us mark Year of the Nurse this July by wearing something blue and sharing your thanks on social media!

We’re encouraging staff and supporters to #WearBlueToSayThankYou. We’ve already had people donning blue football shirts, PPE masks and summer dresses for the campaign. Whether it’s your favourite hat, rocking bright blue nails or eyeshadow or your comfy blue socks, join in by tagging our account on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and hashtag #WearBlueToSayThankYou to get involved!

We’ll be sharing pictures later this month here and on our channels!