COLTEN Care residents – some of whom were also once nurses – made heartfelt gifts to celebrate International Nurses Day (May 12th).
At Brook View in West Moors, the companionship team led residents in making mini hampers containing home-made chocolates, candles and wax melts, which they presented to their nurses.
Receiving a hamper was senior nurse Anneka McQuirk, who came to Brook View on her training placement three years ago and loved it so much she accepted a full-time job there.
And at Amberwood House in Ferndown, home manager Diane Nicholls, herself a trained nurse, and resident Noreen Hewitt, enjoy swapping stories about their nursing careers.
Noreen trained at 18 and worked as a nurse until her retirement.
Joy Dunkerley worked as a senior nurse at Colten’s Court Lodge in Lymington – and now lives there as a resident.
Elaine Farrer, Colten Care’s chief operating officer and a registered nurse herself, said: “Nurses are at the very heart of our homes, providing emotional and clinical care for our residents whether they are with us for a few days, weeks, months or years.
“Their knowledge and professionalism reassures residents and their families that they have made the right choice to stay briefly or longer in a Colten Care home.
“We are very proud that we have so many residents who were nurses in their active, professional lives and that they now entrust us to care for them in their later years.”