Debbie works as a Nursery Nurse on Ward 7 at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, where she helps make hospital as pleasant an experience as possible for the children.
Coming into hospital can often be daunting or scary for children, as they may have had unpleasant or bad experiences in the past. Debbie’s role as a Nursery Nurse is to make the hospital environment, and experience of coming into hospital, as pleasant, comforting, and reassuring as possible. This includes playing games, helping with schoolwork, and generally keeping children occupied and busy.
As a Nursery Nurse, Debbie helps to introduce and discuss treatments and operations such as dialysis with both children and parents with the aim of answering questions and getting families as comfortable as possible. Debbie also organises trips away in the summer, where families can spend time away from the hospital and make friends.
[Hospital] needs to be a nice environment, a pleasant environment, somewhere where they can feel comfortable, like home.