"I am very grateful to Help the Hospices for supporting me in my studies..I am now providing better quality care to people that need it"
Her studies have also inspired her to make contact with organisations in Nigeria to share her knowledge and
help develop palliative care practice there.
Motivation
Dayo started her career in palliative care as a general nurse seven years ago. She was promoted from senior staff nurse to her current position just after gaining her MSc in palliative care.
Before that she worked with the elderly where she saw the real difference that good palliative care can make to the quality of life for someone facing the end of their life. This, together with seeing her mother die in distressing circumstances with no access to pain relief or treatment, motivated her to move into working in palliative care.
As it was a new area of work for her she was keen to learn all she could, although undertaking a Masters degree was a huge commitment, especially when working as well as raising a family.
Dayo talks about a particular situation where she made use of some of her learning:
“We had a patient in the hospice who was in great pain and getting angry with his family and others close to him. One night I sat down and had a chat with him. Using some of the communication techniques and training in recognising cues learnt in the MSc, I managed to find out what was troubling him. We discussed a couple of possible ways of dealing with this, then I went on leave for three days.
When I returned to work he was like a different person, looking happy and relaxed with his family around him. He had talked to them about what was troubling him and apologised to them. I know that without the skills learned through my studies I would not have recognised that there were deeper reasons for why he was so angry with the world.”
During the MSc course she was able to learn:
- how and where to research for evidence to ensure her care delivery is evidence based
- to reflect and review care given to learn from, and so constantly improve the quality of care she provides
- and discover that she enjoys teaching which motivates her to share her acquired knowledge and skills with others.
Attending a lecture on international links between hospices in the UK and other countries inspired her to try and develop links with Nigeria, where knowledge of palliative care is limited and localised.
Together with one of her lecturers in palliative care at the University of Kent, Dayo visited Nigeria to help set up a palliative care education programme at the Federal Medical Centre in Abeokuta in South West Nigeria. Fifteen nurses attended the initial training showing a real desire to learn more about palliative care and to improve the care they provide.
Inspired by Dayo’s initiative, EllenorLions Hospice has continued to link with Nigeria, for example six nurses from Nigeria attended a two week course at the hospice to learn more about palliative care in the UK.
Further information
Help the Hospices supports approximately 1,000 hospice employees per year with grants of up to £1,500 to attend a wide variety of courses and conferences.
Find out more about our professional development grant programme as well as other grant programmes we run.
For more information about EllenorLions Hospice, including the services they provide and contact details, please visit the EllenorLions website.
