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<\/a><\/p>\nIt was officially opened by the hospice\u2019s President, Lady Susan Langford, and was made possible thanks to a \u00a31,200 donation from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).<\/p>\n
The zone includes a laptop, a printer, wifi access, academic journals and books, and it will also be available for nurses and care practitioners in the wider community to use.<\/p>\n
Recently, St Kentigern earned glowing praise after setting up the only nurse-led hospice probably in the Western Hemisphere which is attracting interest from across the UK and even across the globe.<\/p>\n
The eight-bed in patient hospice with day care facilities provides unparalleled care for those with life-threatening and terminal illness, but has to rely on 80 per cent of its income from the generous donations of the public.<\/p>\n
Dinah Hickish, Senior Advanced Nurse Practitioner at St Kentigern, believes strongly in the value of education, and supporting the independent sector in being able to access knowledge.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThis will enable us to learn from each other and share best practice, and hopefully in the future we\u2019ll be able to develop more initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very strongly that the patients receive the best palliative care through education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valerie Bailey, Wales Union Learning Fund Project Manager for the RCN, said: \u201cThese learning zones are absolutely crucial I would say because it give that ethos where you value learning and development.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about creating that learning culture. This is an illustration of St Kentigern\u2019s commitment to learning and also to the wider community and to the rest of the third sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valarie, \u00a0added: \u201cWhen it comes to nursing you can\u2019t stand still. You don\u2019t just get your nursing qualification and that\u2019s it. You\u2019re always learning. There is a requirement on nurses that they continue with their professional development, and this is something that will enable them to do that.”<\/p>\n
Ian Bellingham, Chief Executive of St Kentigern, added: \u201cWe\u2019re delighted that\u00a0 the RCN have worked with us and helped us to open this new facility; it is a real partnership working. It was very appropriate that our President Lady Susan Langford agreed to officially open the Learning Zone.<\/p>\n
“Looking to the future it is essential than there will need to be more collaborative and partnership working. This initiative is an excellent example of how organisations can work together. We are indebted to our colleagues in the RCN and this is a fantastic resource we can maximise to everybody\u2019s benefit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be used by our own nurses here in the hospice but also we are making it available to nursing colleagues from nursing homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be able to undertake study and research in a comfortable environment that is specifically catered to learning with regard to palliative care. I think the important thing is that bringing more and more people into the hospice it enables us to not only promote our work but help colleagues understand what we do here at St Kentigern.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften people have got a misapprehension about what hospices are all about. So from our point of view, the more people we can bring into the hospice the better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an illustration of the fact we are engrained into the community, and we couldn\u2019t operate without community support. 80 per cent of our funding comes through the community. We get less than 20 per cent from the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very proud of the support we receive from the community and this is just another way of cementing our relationship with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also paid tribute to the hard work and dedication of Lady Langford: \u201cShe\u2019s one of the founders of the hospice, and she has does an tremendous amount of work for us over the 19 years we\u2019ve been in existence.”<\/p>\n
Lady Langford paid tribute to the volunteers and the staff at St Kentigern.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI can\u2019t say enough about all the volunteers. It staggers me their kindness and their generosity. We\u2019re quite a small hospice, and we have over 500 volunteers on our list which I find amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur staff are very special people, because it\u2019s not easy to be around dying people all of the time, and they somehow don\u2019t see it like that. To be able to give so much I think is incredible and I think they\u2019re very special people.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also believes passionately about the role of the hospice in the community: \u201cUntil you\u2019re dead you are alive, and when you die you want to die in loving surroundings, and to feel dignity in death.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to be treated like you\u2019re still a human being, and that\u2019s what the hospice is all about. It\u2019s providing the quality of life at the end of life which is extremely important.\u201d<\/p>\n