One of our older people's assessment liaison nurses (OPAL), Sue Cook, told us more about a typical day for her, and just why she's so incredibly passionate about her patients and their care.
Sue works predominantly on the new acute medical unit (AMU) at Epsom and assesses patients over the age of 65 who are admitted for emergency treatment. Then, working alongside doctors, nurses, the discharge teams and many others, she oversees their progress until they are ready to be discharged. Talking about her role, Sue said: "This is the most rewarding job I have ever done, and I'll happily keep doing it until I retire.
Passionate about older people
"I just love older people, and am absolutely committed to making sure they receive the very best of care. In fact, I don't really see my patients as elderly - they've had a life just like you and I have, with jobs and families, and all that comes in between. The only difference is they have got an incredible amount of life experience and have some fantastic stories to tell - you can always learn a thing or two from my patients!
"I firmly believe that our patients should be treated just how we would want members of our own family to be treated if they were in hospital. They deserve respect, dignity and a fantastic level of care - and that's exactly what we strive to provide.
"Of course, it's not always easy for my patients' loved ones either, so my job also involves a large helping of support and compassion."
But as you might expect from Sue's job, she sometimes has to treat patients who don't recover, and those who suffer from degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's' and Alzheimer's. Sue said: "There's not always a happy ending in what we do, which is why it's absolutely vital that we give all of our patients the care that they deserve. Sometimes my job is about making the last phase of a patient's life as positive and as comfortable as they possibly can be, and I get a huge amount of satisfaction from knowing that I have made a difference in those vital moments."
Working together
When Sue's not on the wards or the AMU, she's usually liasing with teams from across the hospital, to make sure that each patient has got the support and the care that they need as they get ready to depart. Sue said: "I'm just a very small cog in a really large wheel, but together, we truly are making a difference. At the heart of what we do is good communication and a shared ethos of treating elderly patients with dignity and respect.
"I am committed to being an older person's champion, and work with other staff to make sure we get it right each time, and learning the lessons on the odd occasion where it's not.
"I love coming to work and I absolutely love making a difference to people's care. I'm always telling Chief Executive Matthew Hopkins that I have the best job in our hospitals!"
Even after work, Sue doesn't take much time to put her feet up. She said: "I don't relax! My family are always telling me to sit down, but I think they've now resigned themselves to the fact that I can't just sit back. I spend my spare time with my wonderful family - they are everything to me, and I love to catch up with my girlfriends."
