As we continue our series highlighting the committed work of nurses and midwives in Ireland by sharing your stories, this month we talk to Deirdre Lang, Director of Nursing/National Lead Older Persons Services, Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director/Clinical and Integrated Programmes.
If you would like to get involved, please complete and send the Professional Focus questionnaire along with pictures to communications@nmbi.ie.
Our interview with Deirdre
Why did you choose a career in nursing/midwifery?
When I was younger my little brother was sickly, with what was later diagnosed as asthma and eczema. Every winter he would have a chest infection or two and I would try and keep him calm when he found it hard to breathe. So when we were asked by the teachers in 5th year what we wanted to be I already knew I wanted to be a nurse. I was 15 at the time and it was just as clear as day that was where I saw myself. I can still visualise that moment.
Was this your first career choice and what would you do if you weren’t a nurse/midwife?
Yes I wanted to be a nurse ever since it was first posed as a serious question in school. If I wasn’t a nurse I think I would be a garda.
How do you believe you have made a difference as a nurse/midwife?
I have worked in many different roles over my 30 year career from acute hospital to mental health and for the past 20 years in Older Persons Services. I have worked as a staff nurse, nurse manager, ADON and as a Director of Nursing in the HSE and the private sector. All of that experience has allowed me a wonderful insight into the contribution that gerontological nursing makes to the nursing profession. I would suggest my role now allows me to harness that and to influence the way that gerontological nursing is perceived. I’m extremely proud that nursing has led the way in the development of the National Frailty Education Programme; a multidisciplinary programme that is regarded internationally as a key lever in the development of integrated care for older people.
As I plan on being an older person myself I find being in a position to challenge ageism and the language used to describe older adults is something I am passionate about.
Do you have a memory in your job that really stands out?
I was nursing in Australia; my first role as a staff nurse and an older lady with dementia was admitted. She had sustained a hip fracture, after a fall at home. The consultant came to review her to determine her plan of care, and suggested to me that she was old and as she had advanced dementia had no quality of life, so he wouldn’t be operating. I had admitted the lady, who had come to the ward with her son. He had told me that his mother lived with them in a granny flat they had built onto their house and that she was a wonderful mother and grandmother. I could see first-hand the wonderful relationship they had, even though she wasn’t able to speak.
I knew I had to speak up for this patient. I remember rising up to my full 5 foot 2 inches and informing him that his subjective opinion of the lady’s quality of life was biased and that in fact she had a wonderful life, a member of a family and she was very much loved. I still remember how I felt in that moment. I had trained in a system where the medical opinion was not something a nurse challenged, so I was expecting an admonishment. Instead this doctor discussed my opinion with me and asked what made me feel the way I did. I remember his words to this day. “Thank you; you are correct. I should not judge someone’s quality of life on what I think it should be. We will operate in the morning.” That was the day I found my voice!
How has COVID -19 changed nursing? Are there any positives that you will take with you?
Nursing has demonstrated the significant contribution it makes to healthcare over the past year. It’s been the toughest of times, but I believe that that the skill-set and expert knowledge required to deliver good care to older adults has finally been recognised. The Expert Panel Review of Nursing Homes has made 86 recommendations that will enhance the way care is delivered to older people which makes me hopeful for my future older self.
The use of technology to support care delivery has been unprecedented and the flexibility and creativity that nurses have demonstrated to ensure residents remain connected to their families and can access expert healthcare has been exceptional.
I am extremely proud of my profession; of the sacrifices my colleagues have made to keep their residents safe, to provide dignity at end of life, to support families to say goodbye and to be able to get up and do that day in day out for 12 months.
If you could, what advice would you give to 19 year old you, starting out?
Your 15 year old self was right; this is the career for you. It’s going to be hard but it will be worth it. Shift work will not agree with your social life but it will agree with your life as a mother and the friends you make will be friends for life. When you meet a certain consultant in Australia speak up: it will redefine how you see your role forever.
If you were given one million euro to spend on health, how would you spend it?
I would spend it on the Get Up Get Dressed Get Moving campaign to support the mental and physical health of the nation and to promote healthy life years for older adults. My dream would be to reintroduce day rooms to every ward in every hospital and to employ an activities coordinator for every healthcare setting for older people (my one million is worth 50M in old money).
It’s post-pandemic and you’ve just won a holiday to anywhere in the world! Where would you go and why?
I would go to Rome to sit at the Trevi Fountain with a gelato, to feel the sun on my face and to watch the hundreds of tourists and the police blowing their whistles at those with the audacity to sit on the white marble and the world would feel like it has returned to normality.
Back to reality…. You’ve a week to spend on holidays in Ireland. Where would you go and why?
I would go home and see my family and my dad. My mum died this time last year and I have only seen dear old dad for 3 hours in total in the past year. I would spend my time visiting him and catching up with my brothers, sister and my nieces - and I would eat out every night!
Pictured: Deirdre's mother and father
