In January, we brought together some of the world’s leading palliative care experts for our first-ever conference, Mind Over Matter.
Our virtual event explored how healthcare professionals can better support the emotional and psychological wellbeing of patients facing the end-of-life and was attended by more than 200 delegates from across the globe, including New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
Mind Over Matter was organised by our Education team, which delivers a wide-ranging programme of palliative and end-of-life care training designed for health and social care workers in the NHS, nursing homes, community teams and acute care settings. The team is headed by our Learning, Development and Education lead Nicky Wood.
Nicky joined Isabel Hospice as a staff nurse in our In-Patient Unit almost 26 years ago before being promoted to sister a year into the post. “I loved working on the unit and the team were like my family. We looked after each other and through laughter, tears and finding joy in the small things, every day was different.”
Nicky was later seconded to the Community team and shortly afterwards became a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), working in the community for about 10 years.
“I didn’t think I’d like it as you had to work more autonomously, but it transpired that I loved it! The team, patients and their families really gave me the motivation to do the best I could for them. Seeing families torn apart was very hard, but all I could do was to try to bring them support at such awfully tough times.
“During my time as a CNS, I did a lot of teaching to community teams. As a result, I was offered a secondment into the Education team. Again, I said I wouldn’t stay as I loved my job as a nurse specialist, but it turned out to be a revelation for me. I loved that I was always learning from others and their experience.”
Nicky worked as a lecture practitioner and that led to her current role as our Learning, Development and Education (LDE) lead.
“We deliver a lot of training both externally and internally and I have a small dedicated team who really go above and beyond to ensure we provide the education support our teams need. Our aim at Isabel Hospice is outstanding palliative care for all, and through LDE we support this aim.
“One of my driving interests is around providing psychological care for our patients and their families, creating that safe space to be. As a result, we were really proud to run our first conference, Mind Over Matter, exploring the psychological support provided to our patients, their families and ourselves too. We had over 200 people attend and it was so exciting to have such an amazing line-up of speakers.
“So, although I have remained at Isabel for more than 20 years, I have never stood still. In the past few years, I have gained my Masters in Advanced Palliative Care and done a PGcert in higher education. I still try to work clinically as well, which is really important to me. I love working at the Hospice, I feel like this place is in my blood and I passionately care about the people I work with, but also what we do for our community.”
