What working in a children’s hospice is really like

Jabran, staff nurse at our hospice in Birmingham feels humbled to work at Acorns. For him, being able to bring tailored care and fun to the lives of children is his favourite thing.

I’ve been qualified as a nurse now for 10 years which is scary to admit! I started my career working in hospitals, so I didn’t know much about the hospice scene.

Jabran and Luke meeting some furry friends at Acorns in Bimingham, 2019

Before applying to work at Acorns I did a mini tour to see what it was like. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, it was actually a really fun and warm environment, so I applied for the job and here I am!

What I really love about my role is the time I get to give to the children and their families. On my first day, I spent the whole day caring for one child who I woke in the morning, bathed, took into the sensory room and the garden, ate lunch with in the dining room, and watched TV with whilst looking after their care needs.

It wasn’t rushed, it was calm. It was completely different to the busy hospital ward. That’s what’s nice about Acorns, you really do get that one to one care in a relaxing environment.

We have time to care and to get to know the child and their family, which means we can provide gold standard care. Every child is different, so we make sure we know everything about them by building a personal care plan.

When a family first comes to Acorns, we invite them to stay so we can learn everything we can about their child.

Obviously, we focus on the clinical needs such as medication, but we also cover things you might take for granted. For instance, what time the child goes to sleep, if they wake up in the night, what kind of things would calm them down? What are their hobbies?

We then create a personalised care plan for when they stay. By doing this we can care for them as a whole.

Everything we do is tailored because we want the best for children and families. We try to understand as best as we can, what they’re going through.

I love this job because it’s humbling to be a part of a child’s journey. That’s why I want to make it as fun and unique to them as possible.

Jabran 
Staff Nurse
Acorns in Birmingham