Hospice Nurse April has found her calling

April Santoro, Enrolled Nurse at St John of God Murdoch Hospice, knew from her very first shift that she had found her place.

“From my first buddy shift, everyone was so lovely and helpful. That helped me feel confident and welcomed here,” April said.

April has always loved assisting others which is why she was drawn to nursing. After working in aged care, April qualified as a nurse and started working in the palliative care unit.

When April tells people what she does, they can sometimes struggle to understand why April finds palliative care nursing so rewarding. April tells them what she does.

“I love it here, I feel it is where I am supposed to be,” April said. “People think patients just come to us to die. They can’t understand how it could possibly be rewarding. What they don’t get, is that palliative care has many stages,” she said. Compassion is fundamental, and making sure patients are comfortable through symptom control is an important part of palliative care.

“When we make our patients comfortable, it helps them and their family settle. The thanks you get is so worthwhile.”

When asked what aspect of her job she enjoyed the most, April said it was the little things which make a huge difference to her patients.

“Washing their hair, or giving them a shave, or doing their makeup. Even helping my patients go outside. It is a joy for them; they feel happy and care free. Those are the things that make this the most rewarding job,”

April has tried careers is hospitality, marketing, and sales, but has always found her way back to Nursing.

“I can’t really see myself doing anything else.”

Nurses make up more than 50 per cent of our workforce and work across a diverse range of specialties at the bedside and beyond.

In May, we celebrated International Nurses Day and National Palliative Care week. To all of our nurses, especially those in palliative care, we are grateful for you today and every day.

It’s Cancer’s Turn to be Afraid

For the second year in a row, Clinical Nurse Consultant for Cancer Services, Marie Condon, is participating in the MACA200 Ride for Research.. The MACA200 is a 200km bike ride over two days to Mandurah and back to raise funds for the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research to research cancer and look for cures in WA.

You can donate towards Marie’s heroic ride at the link: https://www.cancer200.org.au/ fundraisers/mariecondon