Education and training
Overview
“Through our education activities we strive to improve the quality of living, and dying, for all who are facing terminal illness, not just those who may be directly referred to the Hospice.”
St Michael’s Hospice is the major provider of palliative care education and training within Herefordshire. We work closely with organisations, teams and individual professionals to provide appropriate educational opportunities designed to encourage learning, understanding and confidence in all aspects of caring for and supporting both patients and their families. Most of our activities focus on small group, interactive learning as we consider complex and sometimes very difficult topic areas. “When I am giving nursing care I can help one person and their family at any one time. Through education it is possible to influence the care offered by many practitioners, hopefully for the rest of their working days.”
The education department is made up of 2 full time and 1 part time members of staff, together with other members of the multi-disciplinary team who deliver specific elements of training, as needed. Jean Fisher is Head of Education and has been with St Michael’s since it opened in 1984. Originally the Ward Sister, Jean formally became a ‘clinical teacher’ in 1990 after several years of combining education with her senior clinical activities. Since then she has been instrumental in developing the role of education. Now each year several hundred professionals take part in a variety of different courses that have developed. Jean successfully completed an MSc programme at University of Wales College of Medicine and is currently an external examiner to the university.
Debbie Smithers, the part time teacher/practitioner, has been a staff nurse at the Hospice since 1989. She completed her Certificate of Education in 2000, following which she joined the Education Department. In recent years Debbie has had personal experiences of cancer and gone on to achieve a first class honours degree in ‘Cancer and Palliative Care’. In 2004 she won the Frances Sheldon Award for an interactive poster she designed called ‘Breaking Bad News’ based on work undertaken for her BSc. Debbie still does one night shift a week on the in-patient ward at the Hospice as a staff nurse to ensure her clinical skills are maintained.
Ken Perry is Administration and Training Assistant, PA to Head of Education and joined us in 2007. He is the first point of contact for booking a course or finding out further information about our education programme and bespoke training. Ken comes from an IT background which is beneficial to his support role within the Education Department and also when providing in-house IT support and training. His work is invaluable to the education service.