A Day in the Life of Helen Hextall

Helen is a Day Services Nurse for Rennie Grove

A Day in the Life of Helen Hextall

As a band six nurse, Helen is responsible for overseeing the Living Well service at Grove House.

“I have worked for Rennie Grove for almost three years, since completing my return to practice course. I trained as a nurse in the NHS and worked in the renal unit at Hammersmith Hospital for almost ten years before taking a career break to be a full-time mum.

I was drawn to the role with Rennie Grove because I am passionate about the benefits of providing good palliative care and have been in my current role, covering a maternity leave, since January 2022. I love this role because of the lovely patients we are able to care for and because we are able to offer a completely holistic approach to their care. Here’s a summary of what a typical day might look like, to give you an idea of what my role, and this service, is all about.”

 

8.30am

Helen starts the day by checking her e-mails and making a list of patients she is expecting to attend Living Well that day.

9am

Helen and her colleagues discuss which patients they are expecting that day and hand over any ongoing issues or concerns.

9.30am

Helen welcomes a work experience student and settles them in. She sorts out logistics for that day’s music therapy session.

10am

The volunteers who support the service start to arrive. Helen has a new volunteer today so spends time welcoming her and showing her around.

10.30am

Patients arrive. Helen and her team welcome them all and settle everybody in. She then starts one-to-one consultations with patients.

11.30am

Helen films a music therapy session for the website, to help prospective patients understand more about what Living Well offers.

12pm

After completing some induction paperwork with her new volunteer, Helen continues with patient one-to-ones.

1.30pm

Helen sits and speaks to the day’s patients as a group before completing a volunteer’s monthly catch up.

2pm

As the day’s patients leave at the end of the session, Helen holds a debrief for staff and volunteers. She writes up notes and makes referrals to other services that patients have a need for.

4.30pm

After a final check of her e-mails, Helen finishes for the day. Ready to start again tomorrow with a new group of patients.

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