Health careers: Being there for people in their time of need

Irish healthcare workers have been on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic for the past two years, providing quality care under the most difficult circumstances.

Before that, they were on the frontline of a health service that was already dealing with staff shortages and a lack of resources.

With new strategies established by the HSE aimed at taking Ireland’s healthcare system to a new level, it is clear that extra staff and resources are needed, to ensure that those on the frontline are supported in being there for our ill and most vulnerable during their time of need.

Being there for a person during their time of need is one of the most rewarding parts of working in the healthcare service, according to Kildare native, Catherine Cocoman, who began her career as a nurse in 2002, when she was one of the first to enter the newly established nursing graduate programme at Trinity College.

A family tree full of nurses on both sides and work experience at a local nursing home inspired her to take on nursing as a career.

“I found that I liked doing things for people and helping them, and they were all so appreciative and kind, and that was one of the main reasons behind my desire to go nursing.

“Nursing was very much to the fore early on in my life — you were either a nurse, a teacher or a farmer, I’m from that sort of background,” she laughed.

Ms Cocoman went on to train at St James’ acute hospital in Dublin where she said she was fascinated to meet people from all walks of life and learn about the various different illnesses and conditions It was working on the surgical ward where Ms Cocoman realised where her main interest lay — in supporting patients psychologically, physically and holistically before and after surgery.

“I always remember this young man who was going for a bowel resection and he was told there was a chance of him requiring a stoma formation and that worried him,” she explained.

“I always remember going to collect him from surgery and he did end up with the stoma formation. That would be quite a traumatic experience for somebody coming into hospital and I really thought about how I was going to provide care for him in the days after his surgery, from both a physical and mental health perspective,” she added.

“Around that time, I saw an advertisement for a postgraduate programme in psychiatric nursing, the first time it had been run, and I knew I wanted to go do that.” Ms Cocoman went on to complete the postgrad programme at Dublin City University and from there, her passion and love for psychiatric nursing grew.

“Psychiatric nursing is really about working with the patient and empowering and encouraging them to be able to do things that they wish to do,” she explained.

“Every day, it’s hugely rewarding because you get to work with people and support them at a time in their lives where they need support more than ever,” she added.

“Sometimes, it’s the worst time in a person’s life and to be there for them as a psychiatric nurse gives you the opportunity to be there to support, advise, advocate for them and give them hope.” Ms Cocoman explained that she finds so many aspects of working in healthcare, particularly in her own field, hugely rewarding, from working with patients and their families to working on multidisciplinary teams and teaching students.

She also highlighted a wide range of opportunities in terms of working in different sectors — from A&E, acute hospital settings to mental health teams, working in the community or for various charities and volunteer organisations — that are on offer in the Irish health service.

“They’re all such rewarding areas to be honest.” As well as having the opportunity to work in different areas and specialties across the health service, there is also the chance to avail of education and training on offer.

At the frontline of a busy health service, no two days are often the same. Staff have to be adaptable, flexible and ready for anything.

“We are always working at full capacity,” said Ms Cocoman, who works on a 24/7 acute psychiatric unit, managing up to 50 staff members.

“You can plan your day, but very often in our line of work, no two days are the same. We have to be flexible, adaptable and be available to do a lot of reactive, crisis management.

“For people seeking a career in nursing, I would say you need to be caring, competent, conscientious,” she added. “We need more nurses and I would encourage people to go into nursing, particularly psychiatric nursing, as it’s hugely rewarding.

“In Ireland, we train up very competent people through our undergraduate programmes and we want more of them to come through and work with us.” While it is a rewarding career, Ms Cocoman admitted that working in the healthcare service, particularly over the past two years or so, has brought challenges.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted a childcare crisis in Ireland which particularly impacted healthcare workers across the country, while the current housing crisis and increases in cost of living are impacting most, if not all, of the population.

“There definitely needs to be a more family-centred approach to address these challenges and to allow more people to be able to work on the frontline,” said Ms Cocoman.

Looking to the future of the healthcare sector and nursing in particular, Ms Cocoman highlighted the importance of recruiting and retaining staff.

“I know there’s been some recruitment going on but it’s important that we get those nurses where they need to be,” she said. “There is also a concern that, with travel back open, we might lose some people to working abroad so it’s important that we do our best to recruit and retain staff.

“Hopefully, we’re also able to get some back from abroad as well with things opening up. There are plenty of opportunities here in Ireland and, although it is challenging, it’s also hugely rewarding work and we need more people to come on board,” she added.

With strategies like ‘Sharing A Vision’ and Slaintecare currently in the works, Ireland has the potential to develop a quality healthcare service capable of serving people in the community, hospitals or wherever needed.

To ensure these strategies can actually have a positive impact, recruitment of staff is crucial.

“Hopefully, these strategies and others bring about more recruitment of nurses on the ground,” said Ms Cocoman. “It’s hugely important that these strategies are supported and implemented in the near future as they will play a huge role in delivering quality healthcare.

“As well as the likes of ‘Sharing A Vision’, we need a workforce plan to ensure we have the staff in the right place at the right time to deliver on these strategies,” she added.

“I am hopeful that nurses get the opportunity to be able to deliver on these brilliant strategies and services in the very near future.”