The hidden heroics of an Irish Night Nurse

Tonight and every night across Ireland, Irish Cancer Society Night Nurses will be in homes across the country supporting families to fulfil their loved one’s wish to die at home.

Whether it’s Christmas time or coming into the summer, approximately 220 Night Nurses are working to provide end-of-life care for families and loved ones nationwide. Just last year alone, Night Nurses provided 7,303 nights of end of life care to 2,232 cancer patients across the country.

Monasterevin native Brid McCarthy is one of those Night Nurses, having been inspired by the care given by a Night Nurse to her friend who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Brid has been a Night Nurse since 2018 and says that providing this care for grieving and often exhausted families is “deeply rewarding.”

“I feel it is a privilege to be invited into people’s homes and assist them at this time. To be able to give dying people their wish of being at home and providing this care has given me and my work an incredible sense of purpose,” Brid said.

Night Nurses are all Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) registered to provide expert nursing care, practical support and reassurance for your loved ones in their own home at the end of their life. The service is carried out between 11pm to 7am and is available for up to 10 nights at no cost to the patient or family.

As well as symptomatic care, Brid says Night Nurses are also there to provide “spiritual and psychological” support for both the patient and family.

Brid also referenced that through her sharing of her own story about the Night Nurses and their work that she has recruited nurses that are still working with them to this day. And she is hoping to do that once again and get more nurses to join the Irish cancer Society Night Nurses saying that joining is not a vocation “I struggle with the term (vocation) because I feel as nurses our duty is to care and this about caring for people at a very unique stage of their life.”

Night Nurses are contacted by the Irish Cancer Society following communication with a community palliative care team. Through this the Night Nurses are connected with families embroiled in the end-of-life process of a loved one across Ireland.

The incredible work done by the Night Nurses would not be possible without the support of the Irish public with just 3% of the services funding coming from the Government. 

Brid said of the donations, “Without Daffodil Day we would simply not exist and so for that I want to thank people for both their financial support and the acknowledgement of the service that we provide. And it would be incredible for us if they continue to support us in any way that they can.”

For more information on the Irish Cancer Society Night Nurses, visit cancer.ie. If you have questions or concerns about cancer, contact the Support Line for free, confidential advice on any aspect of cancer. Freephone 1800 200 700 or email supportline@irishcancer.ie.