A LIFE'S WORK

There are some paths in life that are a calling and palliative care feels like one of them. With great tenderness, three hospice nurses open up on what it means to offer care—in its many forms—at the end of life.

- JESSLYN LYE

“Working in a hospice is not all doom and gloom. It is a place that is buzzing with life, a place where we make things happen,” begins Nathania Oi. A senior staff nurse at Assisi Hospice’s inpatient ward, her job involves caring for patients at the end of life, managing their symptoms to keep them as comfortable as possible. But palliative care, she says, goes far beyond that.

If a patient’s last wish is to celebrate Christmas, the hospice team will make it happen even if it is early in the year, decking the room out in holiday decorations. In one instance, Oi recalls, they helped to make a hand cast for a man whose wife was seven months pregnant, so his child could hold it after he was born. She explains: “It’s about shifting the focus from quantity to quality and making the remaining days count.”

Khairunisa Binte Selamat, a senior palliative care nurse with HCA Hospice’s Star PALS (Paediatric Advanced Life Support) programme, echoes this sentiment. “Over time, I’ve come to see hospice care as an opportunity to create moments of peace and connection for patients and their families. I have learnt to appreciate the small gestures that bring comfort and dignity to those in my care,” she explains.

“It’s a privilege to be part of such an intimate, significant time in their lives.”

There are some paths in life that are a calling and palliative care feels like one of them. Long, irregular hours and a heavy emotional weight are part and parcel of the job, but the easy acceptance with which the nurses make their sacrifices speaks volumes of their selflessness.

“I experienced a few losses in my family when I was very young,” shares Lee Jing Ru, an advanced practice nurse at Dover Park Hospice. “When my loved ones passed away at that point in time, I felt that some of them might not have been the most comfortable. I chose to go into palliative care because I would like to provide comfort and relief to other patients.”