Meet our CNS Team - Aileen Sharp
Each of our teams hold a vital piece of the puzzle in making up Hospice Isle of Man. Our Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Team are a central part of our healthcare team. They are usually the first people you will come into contact with here at Hospice. They ensure that patients can access care in the place of their choice.
Next, let's get to know Aileen Sharp. Aileen is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and is very well known to everyone here as she has been here for 22 years in total! 18 years on our IPU and 4 years as a CNS.
What does a day look like in your role?
"My normal day consists of an 8.30am start. I attend the 8.45am morning meeting with the rest of the CNS team, a Hospice at home representative, an In Patient Unit representative, medical doctor, and a social worker assistant. We discuss patients who are currently possible candidates for admission to Hospice, either community patients or hospital patients.
We discuss bed allocation and those who require admission to the In Patient Unit for either terminal care or symptom management. We have an opportunity to discuss complex cases and the management plan for them. I then attend to those patients who are currently on my case load, those patients who need symptom management or terminal care, review their symptoms, and prescribe appropriate medications to alleviate those symptoms."
What’s your favourite thing about working at Hospice?
"Meeting the patients and families and being able to help them during a difficult time in their lives is probably one of the most rewarding things."
Share a highlight story or a favourite memory from your time at Hospice.
"There are some many stories to tell – one of the best memories was when I was working on the In Patient Unit and a work colleague arranged a solo singer to come into Hospice to sing Christmas songs to the patients we had in at the time and the staff. As you know, Christmas can bring lots of different emotions out in us all for various reasons, however on this occasion there was lots and lots of happiness, staff, patients, and their families were really full of the festive spirits, and I remember feeling great as all those who could join in came along to sing their hearts out, building lasting memories.
One more highlight, this was one that touched my heart.
I went to visit a wonderful lady who is on my caseload, she advised me that she was on her own over the Christmas period, following discussions with colleagues both Hospice In Patient Unit and this lady. She agreed to come in for respite over Christmas period so that she would not be isolated and to have company around her. Following this respite, I went to do my next review at her home and she handed me a cheque for £25,000 as a token of gratitude for what Hospice did for her and that we recognised that loneliness especially at Christmas can be a really difficult time for lots of people living on their own."
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