Case studies on careers in palliative care community nursing

LOROS Hospice provides free, high-quality, compassionate care and support to terminally ill patients, their family and carers, both at the hospice and in patients' own homes. Its community nursing team delivers palliative care to around 2500 individuals a year across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. This article describes the experiences of two individuals who work in community care at LOROS.

Community Nurse Specialist at LOROS Hospice

Becky Paulson has been working at LOROS Hospice for 8 years. It is only the second job she has held since she qualified in 1995. Her first role after completing her nursing degree at Leicester's De Montfort University was as a nurse in the oncology department at Leicester Royal Infirmary, where she spent 13 years. Becky worked with acute cancer patients and developed a passion for working in palliative care.

She decided to apply for the job as a specialist community nurse at LOROS Hospice after shadowing a Macmillan nurse during a training day. While she found the day extremely sad, she realised that working in end-of-life care was the career for her.