Carrie explains:

An end of life care doula sits alongside a person in companionship, providing a range of interventions including non-denominational spiritual care. We respond to the needs of that person.

We might discuss what they would like at the end of their life or revisit their end of life care plan if it has already been discussed with their palliative care nurse. They may like to discuss issues that happened in their life that are unresolved, something that’s been playing on their mind, which could impede a peaceful death. We listen. 

We may work with families building memories, writing letters to family, reading, ultimately providing exactly what that person needs in that moment. The role embraces compassionate communities and supporting people in companionship.

Being able to be with somebody facing their death and supporting them on their journey is beautiful, it's a privilege. It's really about love and what you do to help that person feel they are loved and cared about as they're going through the dying process. For me it really is the artistry of nursing.

I contacted St Helena and they embraced the theory behind it passionately. For me, it’s that St Helena embraces compassionate communities, supporting people in a companionship role. We have lots of people now within our society that live in isolation in quite lonely lives and I think probably the pandemic has exacerbated that, whereas years ago we would have been more akin to having extended families and communities that supported one another. 

I worked as the Royal College of Nursing UK Professional Lead for end-of-life care until December of 2022, this supported my volunteering.

The end of life care doula role puts me right back where I started in hands on role which I’d moved away from in my nursing career as I advanced more, and I really missed that. That's what keeps you grounded. Being able to be with somebody facing their imminent death and supporting their family brings back the focus of what I'm in this job to do.

I’m trained as a soul midwife which is sometimes called a death doula; people call it different things. My school of thinking is about the palliative journey from this world to whatever the next world is, and we all have different views on that. The same as when you're being born, you're coming from whatever was before to this world, so a soul midwife is all about supporting your soul in that transition.

Being able to be with somebody facing their death and supporting them on their journey is beautiful, it's a privilege. It's really about love and what you do to help that person feel they are loved and cared about as they're going through the dying process. For me it really is the artistry of nursing.