‘It’s a privilege to work in Marymount — helping patients to live the best lives they can is what keeps us coming in every day’
Eileen Mullins, clinical nurse specialist palliative care, Marymount University Hospital & Hospice. Photo: Eddie O’Hare
In a mission dedicated to providing specialist palliative care of the highest quality for those with a life-limiting illness and for older people, Marymount University Hospital & Hospice promotes excellence in clinical practice through skills, education and research.
For Eileen Mullins, clinical nurse specialist palliative care, the last ten years at Marymount have been a deeply rewarding and satisfying career chapter.
“My job really does come under that description that ‘no two days are the same.’ It is the kind of work that does engage you in a complete way, and certainly one of the great things about nursing is that everybody who chooses it as a career finds their own particular home in it. I have now been nursing for over thirty years, and could definitely say it is a profession where everybody finds what suits them.”
Earlier this month, Older Persons Services in Marymount achieved a significant milestone, becoming the first residential care setting in Ireland to gain accreditation as an Age-Friendly Health System — Committed to Care Excellence.
The internationally recognised initiative marks a major step forward in aligning with the HSE National Strategy to enhance healthcare services for older adults. This achievement aims to enhance care for older adults by focusing on their unique needs and priorities through the 4Ms framework — What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility.
The accreditation recognises Marymount’s commitment to providing high-quality, person-centred care tailored to the person's needs.
“Marymount is a wonderful place to work in that it has been so treasured by the people of Cork and beyond for so long,” Eileen agrees. “The care given to their family members, relatives or friends is always remembered with such affection. From that point of view, it is a fabulous place to work.
“Marymount has changed so much over the years, it no longer carries the end of life fear that it once had. Now we work toward helping patients stay as healthy as possible and have a better quality of life while oncology and cardiology are happening on their medical journeys.”
Because Marymount is not in an acute setting like regular hospitals, it operates on a more flexible schedule in terms of visiting hours and relaxed environment: “The wards are pretty calm and patients have a quieter environment in general. We do have families that would come in and stay for a night or more, depending on the condition of the patient.
“It is a much calmer environment than would be found in the acute hospital setting. Even with appointments here in the clinic, we have the liberty and luxury in Marymount of scheduling patients one on one so that there isn’t any time lost waiting — we don’t want to waste their time or their day.”
Volunteers play a very important role in the daily operation of Marymount, coming from all walks of life and age groups. As a cornerstone of the Cork community, Marymount has a long-standing tradition of providing exceptional care and support to individuals with life-limiting illnesses, and volunteers, both corporate and individuals, are integral to the fabric, offering invaluable support that enhances the quality of life for those they serve.
At a reception in City Hall earlier this year to honour the work of those volunteers, Mayor Dan Boyle acknowledged them as “the heart and soul of our community - your kindness and tireless efforts embody the very best of humanity”.
The event acknowledged the dedication of the volunteers who support Marymount across a variety of departments - from providing companionship to patients to assisting in the gardens, working at reception and even offering hairdressing services to make it a place of care and comfort.
“Volunteers are hugely important to Marymount,” Eileen agrees. “Only for volunteers we would not be able to offer as much as we do. They are absolutely part of the team.”
Eileen adds that the clinical day services are planned to expand over the coming months, where patients who are able to attend appointments can come in to avail of the nursing and medical side as well as allied health and complimentary therapies.
The original Marymount was located on the north of Cork city, on Wellington Road, established in 1870 by the Sisters of Charity to provide healthcare services for the community.
Dr Patrick Murphy bequeathed his property with the condition that it operate a hospital for cancer patients. In 2011, Marymount relocated to its purpose-built site in Curraheen, a wonderful new chapter for an institution that has touched the lives of countless numbers across the decades.
But regardless of Marymount’s state of the art physical changes, its revered standard of care remains an unchanged and exemplary beacon of care.
“Many of our staff come to palliative care after gaining experience in other areas of medicine, all of them different personalities which add different professional and life experiences to Marymount.
“We are very different to the hustle and bustle you would find in acute hospitals, we take a more holistic approach to patient care. We look beyond the disease, beyond the medications, to focus on the person. Staff who come here from an acute setting have to train their brain to a very different nursing experience looking at the whole person.
“So much of what we do is thinking outside the box in a non-pharmacological way of managing symptoms. All of us here in Marymount are looking after more than just a disease - we are looking after the person that is going through it.”
Asked what is the best part of a job caring for people in an end of life situation, Eileen Mullins doesn’t have to ponder the question for long: “It is all about the interaction with patients that make it so rewarding. The paperwork and mundane daily tasks go on regardless, but it is the work of helping patients to live the best lives they can is what keeps us coming in every day. It is a privilege to work in a place like Marymount, and we all try to bring the best of our skills every day to making it special.”
