St Barnabas Hospice, Dementia UK and Lincolnshire County Council join together to provide Lincolnshire with six trained health practitioners, called Admiral Nurses.
Admiral Nurses are all qualified nurses with a professional specialism in dementia. Admiral Nurses work together with families to provide the one – to one support, expert guidance and practical solutions they need to live more positively with dementia each and every day.
Their clinical knowledge and skills help prevent crisis and build carers resilience which in turn supports families to maintain quality of life and a sense of control. They also work alongside other professionals in the dementia care pathway, sharing best practice.
Sarah Bedward, Admiral Nurse at St Barnabas Hospice says;
“The most important part of an Admiral Nurse’s job is to work with the families and the person living with dementia. If we do a good job we prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital, improve people’s quality of life, help people live at home for much longer and also enhance their wellbeing
Research shows that for people living with dementia, their wellbeing and general health is affected is their carer is experiencing a lot of stress. For that reason, I’m really looking forward to working with families, helping to build positive relationships and focussing on reducing carer’s stress.”
The pilot service is supported by two leading charity organisations St Barnabas Hospice and Dementia UK and financially sustained by Lincolnshire County Council for 12 months.
Michelle Webb, Director of Patient Care at St Barnabas Hospice says;
“I am delighted to welcome the new Admiral Nurses to the Hospice. We have enjoyed working alongside Lincolnshire County Council and Dementia UK over the past year to create this two year pilot and it is a pleasure to see the team in post and the strategy being realised.
I see this as such an important development for dementia care services in Lincolnshire and I look forward to seeing it make a positive impact for our patients and their families.”
Mandy Crabtree, Admiral Nurse at St Barnabas Hospice says;
“Admiral Nursing is a service that is desperately needed in Lincolnshire. Having worked as a district nurse, I used to visit many patients and find that often either they were living with dementia or their relative was. It has such a huge impact on their whole life and their family’s lives.”