Debra Moore – My Shift That Made a Difference

I trained as a nurse in an old long stay hospital in the 1980’s. When I qualified I supported the hospital closure programme and worked with people leaving the hospital to move into the community.

I remember one shift when I was visiting a woman (Mary) who had been in the hospital for many years, she had mental health needs and learning disabilities, and had recently moved to her own home after being in the hospital from childhood.

As I walked up the path to her house I could see her standing at the kitchen window cooking and doing her washing up. I was suddenly struck by the enormity of what had happened to her, up until this point she had lived in a ‘total institution’ and now here she was, in an ordinary house, in a ordinary street, doing ordinary things.

She smiled at me through the window and I felt a range of emotions, delight that she was making a new life for herself and proud that I was part of her journey but also sadness and anger that so much of her life experience was shaped by exclusion, prejudice and discrimination.

As we sat and had a cup of tea she shared with me the things she was excited or worried about including a volunteer job interview, holiday plans and some dental surgery she needed which we were preparing for, agreeing on dates to visit to look around the dentist and meet the staff before the admission.

I was glad that my role in her life, as a nurse, was to help her to gain the life skills that she had not had the opportunity to acquire, including the skills and knowledge to stay healthy, safe and well.

This shift made a difference because it contained one of those lightbulb moments where everything suddenly crystalizes. I have held the image of Mary in my minds eye many times over the years, especially in challenging situations. She’s been a real life reminder that what can seem to be a very ordinary situation was hard won and can, even now, be easily lost if the right support is not there for people and families.

That shift reinforced in me the understanding of what I wanted to do as a nurse. That it was beyond delivering episodes of care, it was working in partnership with people and families, other professionals and agencies, with the goal of ‘getting a life not a service’.

Debra Moore MBE FRSA, Consultant Nurse.