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Student Nurse Blog Year 3 - Week 27

March 8th 2007

07/03/2007

Today was the day of the event known as ‘Pamper’ Day, organised by the Worcestershire Carers Association. This day is designed for carers to come along and basically get pampered. The event is attended by many different types of therapists and practitioners, providing free sample treatments to carers during the day. The organiser of the event, Maggie Parker, who is also the co-ordinater of the Carers Association, had approached me. She knew of me from when I did a free presentation – at one of the carers meetings in November last year – on Reiki and Reiki in Palliative Care, as well as offering free sample ten minute Reiki treatments.

I had agreed to come along to the event to offer free ten-minute Reiki treatments and talk to people on a one to one basis on Reiki and answer any questions they had. The day ran from 10am until 3pm. Therapists and practitioners were allowed access to the event at 9am to set up. It was being held at one of the Sure Start Community Centres near a new GP Medical Centre. I arrived a little early and waited in reception until Maggie arrived. Once Maggie and one of her colleagues arrived we all went through to the main sports hall, where the event was being held. We laid out the tables and chairs and as people started to arrive the various stands were set up. It was a well-supported event. There was to representatives from ‘Forever Living Products’. This company distributed natural products based around Aloe Vera in various forms (such as hand creams, gels, shampoos, moisterisers, etc.) for the treatment of a variety of skin conditions. There was a therapist providing free sample treatments of Therapeutic and Swedish Massage. This is particularly useful with people who have suffered a TIA or stroke, for example, and can complement physiotherapy as well as helping with muscle tone and tissue stimulation. Obviously the Worcestershire Association of Carers had their own stand providing advice and details of support available to carers. There were three beauty therapists from ‘Lighten-Bright’ providing beauty therapy treatments. ‘The Body Shop’ also had a representative offering free treatments. Two late arrivers came just after we had started at 10am. This comprised of around six therapists from the Royal National Institute for the Blind local college offering a variety of massage therapy and treatments. Finally we had two representatives from ‘Lush’ who provided cosmetics and beauty products made totally from natural products – they also offered hand and hand/arm massage.

Although we were not supposed to start until 10am, a couple of carers had arrived early, so the event started earlier. In addition to providing free ten-minute Reiki sessions and one to one consultations on Reiki, I had also decided to provide consultations on general health advice, health promotion and free blood pressure checks. I had brought along my manual sphygmomanometer and stethoscope (I am very good at taking manual blood pressures and like to take blood pressures manual whenever possible, as I feel they are more accurate than the machines). I had also brought along leaflets on products for patients with dry mouths (usually cancer patients due to the medication they are on), and some free samples of products provided by the same company. I had brought along leaflets for the Still Waters Holistic Centre where I see clients, as well as two pharmacies who provide Mobility aids and also provide drop-in clinics.

Just as I was about to give a free treatment to my first client Maggie approached me with a reporter from the Worcester Evening News. He wanted to take some photos of me giving the client a treatment. This client agreed, so he took some photos, the name of the client and one of my leaflets, so he had my name and an idea of what Reiki was. It was good in a way, because the day before I had spoken to an editor and emailed the Health Reporter from the Worcester Evening News regarding the Prostate Cancer Awareness Week I am involved with from the 19th-25th March. I had mentioned at the time that I had a specialist interest in Health Promotion and was involved in other things such as working with the Worcestershire Carers Association – and the ‘Pamper’ Day.

These types of events are very difficult to gauge regarding attendance of carers. You cannot estimate how many carers will attend and really do need to have the event take place over a whole day. After all, carers are in a difficult position and cannot commit or make rigid appointments a lot of the time. It can be hard for them to get someone to ‘cover them’ and step in to look after the person they are caring for. If the person they are caring for is unwell, becomes poorly, or gets up late, that can affect the carers plans for the day. So it is hard for us to know how many people will attend such events. This is often the same for the monthly carers meetings, where people have to come and go at various times during the meeting due to their caring commitments.
However, this event had a very good turnout with a large amount of carers attending. Some of them I had met before when I gave the presentation and sample Reiki treatments at their November meeting. I cannot tell you exactly how many carers attended the ‘Pamper’ day, as I was too busy seeing clients to be able to look at the attendance register, I just knew from the attendance I could see throughout the day that it was a very good, high, attendance rate.

The day was very successful and I was very busy. I saw my first client just before 10am and did not stop until around 1145am, when I was able to grab a sandwich and a half of mug of coffee – the rest of it went cold! I was literally seeing clients’ non-stop, with some people waiting to see me in the waiting area. I had another lull around 1pm where I was able to eat the other half of my sandwich and have another mug of coffee, before seeing the next client. The consultations varied from explaining to people what Reiki was and how it worked – as well as giving them a free ten minute Reiki treatment – to providing health advice and health promotion regarding minor matters. One gentleman approached me and was only after a blood pressure check and advice on his wife’s mouth care. I asked if he had had problems with his blood pressure and explained before taking his blood pressure that it usually requires three consecutive readings before a person can be diagnosed with hyper- or hypotension. He understood and explained that his blood pressure was ‘up and down’ and currently being monitored by his GP once every three months. After taking his blood pressure he then discussed his concerns about his wife’s mouth care and the condition of her mouth. I gave him some of the free samples and explained their use and provided him with one of the leaflets covering symptoms, causes and treatment of dry mouths before advising him to raise his concerns with his GP (as he and his wife were not seen by district nurses). On a couple of occasions I really just provided a sounding board for carers who needed someone to talk to about their situation and how they were coping. Although I was not paid for each client I saw (as it is a charity and carers do not have much money due to the financial impact caring has on a person) I was paid a small amount to cover my expenses and act as a goodwill gesture for committing my time to the event. It was certainly a very valuable and interesting experience and I would definitely do it again. It certainly generated a lot of interest from many of the clients I saw with regard to booking appointments with me in the future. However, that was not the only reason for attending this event and providing my service. Just to be able to offer some therapeutic treatment to these carers and to be able to offer them a small amount of health advice or health promotion was the biggest reason. To be able to spend time with a person and know that you’ve made a difference (even if it’s a small amount) is enough to make you want to give your time to such events.

After all, if it wasn’t for these carers and the sacrifices they make, they NHS and Social Services really would be financially struggling and unable to cope. Carers really do make a difference.

The next thing I have organised is in connection with the Prostate Cancer Awareness Week. I have contacted the local media and emailed them a press release for the event. I have been able to get permission to distribute beer mats in three pubs promoting the event and have been able to set up some display stands in order to raise awareness around the disease. My fund raising is very limited to just a couple of money collection pots, as I have not had time to organise anything else due to my workload as a full time student nurse. Matt

Student Nurse Blog Year 3 - Week 27

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