Nurses urgently required for increased demand in end-of-life care at home
The Irish Cancer Society urgently requires nurses to help deal with a recent increase in the demand for end-of-life care at home.
The Society provides Night Nursing to patients choosing to die at home and is currently experiencing a 20% increase in requests for this service.
Due to the ongoing impact of coronavirus on hospitals, more patients are being cared for in the community and this is putting an increased demand on the Night Nursing team.
CEO Averil Power said: “Our Night Nurses perform a free and vital service for cancer patients at an incredibly difficult time and we want everyone who wants to avail of this support to have access to it.
“Throughout this pandemic the Irish Cancer Society Night Nurses have provided over 1,000 nights of care to help people spend their precious final days in the comfort of their home.
However, demand for the service has increased by 20% and we are concerned that we may not have enough nurses at the moment to reach everyone who needs our help.
“As a result we really need more experienced nurses to provide care for as many people who want to avail of this service as possible.”
The Irish Cancer Society offers a free Night Nursing Service to palliative patients being cared for by family and friends in their homes.
The service gives help and support to these carers, especially at the advanced stage of the patient’s illness.
The Irish Cancer Society Night Nursing Service is always complementary to the community Palliative Care Team or the community Primary Care Team.
Details on applying for a role can be found on www.cancer.ie/jobs or by emailing recruitment@irishcancer.ie.
Irish Cancer Society services such as Night Nursing can only be delivered because of the generous donations from the Irish public.
Due to coronavirus we are already facing a significant annual shortfall, while our services are in more demand than ever.
Help us to continue helping cancer patients and their families by donating on www.cancer.ie or phoning 1850 60 60 60 or +353 (0)1 231 0500.
