Hospice nurse benefits children in Lincolnshire

Rainbows has a new medical specialist who will benefit babies, children and young people in Lincolnshire.

Vanessa Graham, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Paediatric Palliative Care, is employed by our charity but works alongside Rapid Response Physios. She is part of our Nurses Palliative Care Team.

Vanessa mainly visits people in their homes across Lincolnshire, but she also works in Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. She works with babies, children and young people with serious and terminal illnesses, who need the support of the Rainbows’ expert team, as well as supporting referrals to our hospice

With 14 years of experience in her field, Vanessa provides a different approach to care, a holistic one, which takes into account the child’s family and offers support to them too. Vanessa is part of the ‘face of Rainbows’ in the hospitals but has a large expert multi-disciplinary team behind her at the hospice and across the NHS Trust.

From diagnosis to end of life, Vanessa is alongside the family on their journey, parallel planning, liaising with other teams and ensuring our services and therapies are offered not only at the hospice, but also in hospital and at home.

Another aspect of her role is identifying new families, reaching out to those who may not know about our charity, and making sure they are referred to us to access the support they need. She can explain the wide range of services available from the charity and what can be offered at home or in hospital. She is also an advocate for families and bridges the gap between services to ensure they are being cared for in their preferred place.

Vanessa said: “It is about helping the families to find a way through the stress and emotions of caring for their child. I value the ethos of Rainbows and this role is all about very important choices for the families, ones they may not have known existed – whether that is hospice, hospital or home.

“I love the uniqueness of this role and recognise the gap for Lincolnshire in ensuring families know about Rainbows. I will provide holistic support for emotional, physical and spiritual needs of the whole family and I look forward to working within the community.”