A nurse open day is to be held at the Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in October.

The event, on October 10, coincides with Hospice Care Week (October 9-15) offers nurses the chance to find out what it's like to work in palliative care by inviting them behind the scenes to meet the Peterborough hospice team.

“People often think it is depressing to work in a hospice. I always tell people that is completely untrue, it’s such a positive and welcoming place,” says senior registered nurse Becky Eames.

At the open day, visitors will have the chance to see behind the scenes working at Sue Ryder’s Longthorpe-based hospice, meet the team and ask any questions.

Becky continued to talk about some of the questions she gets asked regularly: “Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice is a really calm and welcoming place to be – and so positive.

"The whole team is so close knit and really supportive, and it makes the environment of the service a wonderful place to work.  

“The care we provide isn’t just the physical care, it’s the emotional, spiritual and psychological care too. That’s often something people don’t realise, we provide support tailored to each individual person’s needs.  

“Another myth people often believe is that hospices are just about dying. That isn’t true at all – we have patients who are receiving palliative care but aren’t end-of-life but instead come to us for symptom control.

"We help to improve these symptoms so the patient can then go back home. People often don’t know that we are here to help improve quality of life.  

“It really is an honour to be able to support someone at the hardest time of their life. To be able to work with the patient and the family to make that situation the best it can be, it is a really fulfilling job."  

The Nurse Open Day at Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice is on Tuesday, October 10 with a morning session, from 10am-12pm and an afternoon session, from 4-6pm. 

You can register at: www.sueryder.org/careersday