Celebrating our team on International Nurses Day

In this blog:

• Developing and training our nursing team
• Improving the future of children’s palliative care
• What’s Nurse’s Day?
• Working at Chestnut Tree House

From Sharon:

“When we think about nurses, it is usually their care, compassion and kindness that come to mind first. But there is far more to nursing than these ‘soft’ skills. Behind these values are highly competent health professionals who possess a wide range of other attributes, ranging from clinical skills to advanced practice. Nurses are also communicators and leaders, with the ability to effect real change and advocate for patients.

I am proud of the diverse team of nurses we have here at Chestnut Tree House. Our people come from adult, learning disability and paediatric backgrounds and all of them bring different, valuable skills to the team.

This year, a member of the Chestnut team has successfully completed their registered nurse associate training, with a further three colleagues currently undertaking the programme. We are also incredibly proud to have supported one team member in completing her registered nurse apprenticeship. Her journey—from healthcare assistant to nurse associate, and now a registered nurse—all while working within the Chestnut team, is a powerful example of dedication and development in practice. In addition, two of our nurses are about to begin their non-medical prescribing courses, further strengthening the care we provide.

At Chestnut, we truly believe in “growing our own” talent and are committed to supporting our staff to achieve their full potential.

Picture: Our nursing team is trained especially to support children and young people with a variety of conditions.

Developing and training our nursing team

“Since Chestnut Tree House opened in 2003, we have had to adapt to reflect the changing needs of the families we support. Children with life-limiting illnesses are living longer, fuller lives thanks to the great strides being made in medical research. A large amount of work goes into maintaining a skilled workforce with continued clinical skills training such as looking after children with tracheostomies and ventilators, or those who rely on nutrition through gastrostomies.

But the training doesn’t stop there. Our staff need advanced communication training using communication aids, eye gaze equipment and Makaton. We train our staff in caring for different medical conditions, looking after children with learning disabilities and those with behaviours that may challenge.

I want to celebrate nurses’ professionalism and leadership in ensuring we meet the needs of children and their families. Nursing leadership is what ensures safe, quality care – and nurses also play a key role in service transformation. Nurses can be powerful leaders in advocating for patients and ensuring systems and processes are responsive to their needs. Chestnut Tree House is going through significant service transformation led by nurses, using evidence, literature, data, service user feedback and engagement to shape our service delivery and devise and implement strategy.

Picture: There are plenty of smiles always on hand at Chestnut Tree House.

Improving the future of children’s palliative care

I am incredibly proud of the nursing team here at Chestnut Tree House. Their dedication to providing the very best care to children, young people, and their families is unwavering—and their enthusiasm for learning ensures that this care continues to grow and improve every day.

Nurses should be proud of their title. We hold a position of great privilege and responsibility, and with that comes the duty to use our knowledge and our voices to help shape the future of healthcare for children and young people.

This International Nurses’ Day, I celebrate and thank my amazing team, and nurses everywhere, for their compassion, commitment, and relentless drive to improve outcomes for patients around the world.

Working at Chestnut Tree House

A nursing role at Chestnut Tree House is varied and rewarding. It’s full of fun and laughter as well as poignant and challenging moments. A lot of people have the misconception that hospices as sad, depressing places – but it’s not the case. Chestnut Tree House is vibrant and full of life! Find out what our staff think about working here.

*Blog updated 12.05.26