Spotlight on... Jade, Hospice at Home Nurse Lead

I have the honour of playing a part in the Hospice at Home team here at Beaumond House.

Raised in Balderton, I had big teenage dreams of becoming the world best equestrian or a scientist depending on which mood I was in.

Until, in my final year at school we received a phone call that changed the course of my life. My brother had been seriously injured in Afghanistan and my 16 year old self’s view of the world was changed. In walked an array of angels that had the job title of Nurse. And this is when I realised what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I applied to university as soon as I was able to, at the age of 17, and was shocked to hear from them, that I would be the first in my family to go to university.

Once qualified at the age of 21, I spent the next 12 years battling between who I was and what I wanted to become and then trying to align the two. I nursed on wards, in the community and in General Practice.

This time includes five years in the middle, where I could be found working countless nights as a Bank Nurse earning enough money to travel on and off for six months at a time.

These five years taught me that it wasn't about ‘finding myself’ but about shaping who I wanted to be, and the realisation that no matter where in the world I was, I would always just be me. This of course led me right back to the start and the most overlooked place in the world, home.

It was then that my lovely Nan was given a palliative prognosis. Of course, being a nurse, I was equipped to deal with this. Well how wrong I was, and the time came for me and my mum to accept some help.

The moment Beaumond House stepped into our home, I realised I was able to just be the granddaughter again, and my Nan died surrounded by her family. The personification of small acts of kindness that is often missing from modern healthcare were the theme of the normal working day for the incredible staff.

A short time later I jumped at the chance to work as a Bank Nurse at Beaumond House and after a year my current position was advertised.

Working here has given me insight into what care means, and a working family I never knew I needed. Colleagues are not defined by what their jobs are but who they are as people.

I still have lots to learn and am taught something new everyday by my colleagues, my patients and their families.

With every story shared, every fear voiced, I grow more certain that caring is not always a matter of medicine, but of kindness, empathy and understanding.

Jade Davis

Hospice at Home Nurse Lead