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Jo’s been making a difference since 1998

May 2017

Care, Family Support, Our Team

It’s not every young nurse who is drawn to the field of end-of-life care, but Jo Hyde has been central to the remarkable development of our services since joining our team.

“Why did I want to come here?” Jo asks. “Well, 19 years ago, I was working as a general nurse when I saw an advert for the role in the local paper. I was thrilled when I got the call inviting me to join the team. I felt I had the passion and energy to help provide the care people deserved at the end of their lives. Throughout my career here, that’s never changed.”

The young Jo found herself developing her skills alongside more experienced nurses. “I learned so much,” Jo remembers. “The care and compassion was immense. It felt almost like a family, all of whom believed very strongly in what we were doing. There was a real sense of unity through our nursing.”
Five years later, the opportunity arose for Jo to become the sister on the Day Therapy Unit: “It was very different but it was a great experience,” she says. “I was given a huge responsibility for the care and safety of patients and their families, and it was great to be involved in the development of the service.” There was one day during her time in the role that Jo looks back on with sadness: “I’ll always remember the flood in July 2007,” she says. “Everyone pulled together – from across all parts of the hospice – to first make the patients safe, and then to save what we could. It was incredible to see but, I admit, when I got home I sat down and cried.”

Time leading our day services prepared Jo for her next move to the role of Carers’ Support Lead in the Family Support Team: “Everything we do for carers is a benefit for patients too,” she says. “I was thrilled to be appointed Family Support Team Leader last year because, in my years here, I’ve seen the huge difference we are able to make to families and their loved ones.”

As she heads towards a 20 year milestone at Prospect Hospice, Jo is clearly appreciative of the direction in which working here has taken her: “I’m grateful for the opportunities to do more than I knew I was capable of,” she admits. “Being able to influence change around the future care of people who are dying, enabling them to come here for rehabilitation then return home – that would have seemed incredible when I first came here – and now it’s the norm,” she says. “People are living well for longer, and to witness that has been incredible. I feel very proud of everything we have collectively done at Prospect Hospice, and I am proud to have been a part of that too.”

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