This beautiful blog was put together by one of our delegates and Shout Out member leaders, Angela Stratton, a Registered Nurse working in aged care. We’re publishing it as part of what will be a series on the impact of health underfunding in different care settings around New Zealand. 

NZNO stock photo image, copyright 2014

One of the special privileges of my work is to be with people when they’re dying. It’s a time when if I do my job well and the doctor has charted any necessary medication, someone can take their last breath relaxed, with less pain or fear.

What I find difficult, is when someone is dying and they are scared and want a hand to hold but I have to go and answer another call bell. Or when a grieving family member breaks down and needs to talk, but I can’t give them as much time as I’d like to, because I need to go and look after others.

Nurses working in aged care all want to do the best for their patients. But with people living longer and their carers growing older too, we simply need more staff. For that, we need more funding from the Government. The Government funds care for older people just like other parts of our public health system.  In aged care our role is special because we also help ease the very last days of a long life. This all part of the health journey for patients and their families which deserves proper funding, dignity and respect.

In Whanganui we have an aging population. Some say we are living longer but death will come to all of us, and I feel it’s a human right not to die alone. When a person has nobody else to hold their hand at the end, I hope there’s a nurse beside them.