Ashlee and Tessa, both third-year nursing students at AUT, recently spent three weeks with Hospice West Auckland as part of their community studies. Coming in with limited knowledge of palliative care, they weren’t quite sure what to expect.
“I’d heard of palliative care, but mostly the stigma of it being old people dying,” Tessa admitted. “I wasn’t too sure exactly how it worked or all the things Hospice does.”
What they found was variety, learning, and connection.
Over the three weeks, they shadowed nurses on home visits, joined morning and evening team meetings, and observed social workers and therapists in action. They even joined a group exercise class, seeing firsthand how holistic care extends well beyond medical treatment.
The home visits left a strong impression. “In one day, you could see a patient with a lot of support, doing really well, and then the very next visit someone facing really tough circumstances,” says Tessa. “It could change completely from one house to the next.” They were both struck by how diverse palliative care really is – different conditions, different family dynamics, different needs – but always with the same goal: supporting people to live with dignity and comfort.
Their time at Hospice also challenged misconceptions. Instead of being purely about end of life, they saw the emphasis on quality of life and on supporting both patients and families. “We were out in the community, helping people in their own homes. I really enjoyed that,” says Ashlee.
