Julie Cornfield discovered her love for care homes early in her nursing career and is now approaching almost 40 years working in this setting.
Julie qualified as a Nurse when she was 18 and after working in hospitals and taking a career break to have her two sons, she had her first experience working in a nursing care home and hasn’t looked back since.
She joined Linson Court in 2018 and is now part of a four-strong nursing team which ensures nursing support is available to residents 24 hours a day.
One of the many things Julie says she likes best about working in residential nursing care is the variety the role brings.
She explains: “There’s no average day as a Nurse in a care home but it can involve everything from providing medication and drawing blood, through to following up medical appointments and admitting new residents.
“At Linson, we have three residents who need their insulin monitoring due to be diabetic; there’s one gentleman who requires precise medication to manage his Parkinson’s Disease and another man who needs to be PEG fed.
“So, there’s always something different going on and even now, after all my years working as a Nurse, I am still learning all the time.”
Julie says the other big difference between working in a residential setting as opposed to a hospital is the time you get to spend with your patients.
“You get to form proper relationships with them, so they become more than just patients to you,” she adds.
“This can make it even more upsetting when you lose somebody, but it is why palliative care is so important, but everyone wants to make someone’s last few days, weeks or months as comfortable as possible.
“It helps that we have a wonderful team here at Linson Court. We all get along and are just one big family.”
Outside of work, widowed mum-of-two Julie enjoys spending time with her friends and going on holiday.