Admiral Nurses
The Admiral Nurse Service hosted by Hospice Isle of Man
The Admiral Nurse Service is funded by the Forget Me Not charity and supported by both Hospice Isle of Man and Dementia UK (www.dementiauk.org)
Dementia is a life limiting, progressive, neurodegenerative disease, for which there is no cure. It is one of the major health problems facing health and social care services.
The Admiral Nurse Service brings the expert specialist palliative care that has been developed for cancer patients, to all people with dementia and their families.
The unique dementia expertise and experience an Admiral Nurse brings is a lifeline - it helps families live more positively with dementia in the present, and face the challenges of tomorrow with more confidence and less fear. This short video shows what Admiral Nurses do.
https://www.dementiauk.org/togetheragain/
How can an Admiral Nurse help me?
- If communication gets hard, we’re on hand with skills and techniques to help you stay connected to the person you love.
- If someone with dementia is showing signs of fear or distress, we’ll work with you to find the best ways of preventing or managing this.
- If your family is struggling to cope, we will help you get the best possible additional care and support for your loved one.
- If you have questions you can’t get answered we’ll take the time to really understand the problem and give you the expert support you need to tackle it.
Admiral Nurse Support
Admiral Nurses work with people with dementia, carers and relatives across the Isle of Man.
We provide one-to-one support, expert guidance and practical solutions to help you and your loved one. This can be done via telephone, face to face visits and Admiral Nurse Clinics.
The Admiral Nurse Service will be offering ‘Your Time, Your Place’, an eight week group programme for people with dementia and their carers. Carers will be offered training in:
- coping with unmet need (challenging behaviours);
- dealing with disease progression;
- grief and loss;
- advanced care planning;
- carer wellbeing.
The person with dementia will be supported by specially trained staff and volunteers who will undertake reminiscence work using music, photographs and art.
Admiral Nurse Support and The Dementia Journey
People living with dementia and their carers quite often don’t know which service or team is involved at what part of the dementia journey.
Working together with the Older Person’s Mental Health team and the Alzheimer’s Society, we have created a pathway to help people navigate the dementia journey from diagnosis through to end of life and post bereavement.
This ecosystem gives an overview of which services can be involved at different stages of the journey.
Advance Care Plans (ACP) have been included as part of this pathway, as it’s really important to have these conversations whilst the person living with dementia is still able to do so.
These can cover things like mobility changes, eating and drinking changes, continence, communication as well as end of life plans.
If you are not sure whereabout you are on the journey, please get in touch and we can ensure that you are supported by the right team or service.
Who can refer?
Referrals can come from GPs, other health professionals or from the carer / relative themselves.
To access the Admiral Nurse Service, at least ONE of the following 3 criteria must be met:
- The person living with dementia has a known or suspected dementia diagnosis and is suspected to be in the last 12 months of life (End of Life phase);
- The person with dementia has unresolved, complex needs (psychological, social, spiritual, physical nature) which cannot be met by the current care team;
- The carer of the person with dementia requires support which cannot be met by the current care team.
How to refer?
You can make a referral by completing the Admiral Nurse Referral form and emailing it to Referrals@hospice.org.im
Discharge
The Admiral Nurse Service supports people through key transition points on the dementia journey. Once you feel able to cope with your caring role again, we will discharge you from our service. If your needs change in the future, you can always re-refer yourself back into the Admiral Nurse Service.
To re-refer, please ring 01624 647475 or email admiralnurse@hospice.org.im
Hours of opening
The Admiral Nurse Service is open Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm, (excluding Bank holidays)
If you need to speak to someone outside of these times, please ring the Admiral Nurse UK Dementia helpline 0800 888 6678 (Freephone) or email helpline@dementiauk.org
Modifiable risk factors:
Although we can’t change our genes or stop ageing, there are changes that we can make to reduce our risk of dementia, either lifestyle changes as individuals or wider changes across society. A growing body of research evidence exists for 14 potentially modifiable risk factors. We might prevent or delay up to 40% of cases of dementia, if we were able to modify all of the risk factors.
View our infographic for information on the 14 modifiable risk factors for dementia.
Early symptoms of dementia:
Symptoms vary between Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia but there are broad similarities between them all.
