The working life of a transition lead nurse

I first developed an interest in working with children and young people with complex needs from my time in A&E. When the position came through at Haven House, I instantly put myself forward as it matched exactly what I wanted to do as a nurse.

Working at a children’s hospice is very different to a hospital setting as you have greater opportunity to personalise care and build longer lasting relationships with families. We can do the special things which are harder to achieve in hospital, such as playing with a child in our beautiful grounds and having more time to meet their preferences and wishes.     

From a career perspective, the most fulfilling thing about working at Haven House is that you have the chance to develop and specialise. As Transition Lead Nurse, I am responsible for ensuring a smooth transition for our young people into adult services.

Collaboration with other healthcare professionals is key if we are to achieve the best outcome for young people and their families. In my role, I get to do a lot of networking as solutions for respite care in the adult sector are not always apparent. I am constantly speaking to our partners and working out if our families can benefit from new services.

Every young person is different and their priorities are different. For example, we have a young adult where the priority for her family is respite care and another teenager whose priority is more about accessing social activities so he can make friends and maintain independence.

Haven House works closely with The J’s Hospice and Saint Francis Hospice in Romford where some of our teenagers have started attending a monthly young adults group. It provides opportunities for young people to meet, build friendships and relationships with other young adults, but it also means as hospices we can share resources, expertise and continue to learn from each other.

For me that is essential in whatever job you do. As a children’s nurse, you can never stop learning and the great thing about working at Haven House is that you have the chance to grow and develop your career and be the nurse you have always wanted to be.

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