A children’s hospice physiotherapist says there is nothing more rewarding than celebrating the “small but mighty” achievements of youngsters receiving care.
Lauren Messenger works for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) and is based at The Treehouse, in Ipswich.
She has been there for over six months, having previously worked on the children’s ward at Colchester General Hospital.
She describes the hospice as a happy, positive environment and finds her role hugely rewarding.
“The Treehouse is a wonderful place to work. We celebrate life and that’s a big thing for me,” she said.
“People have a negative association when you say you work in a children’s hospice. They say ‘oh, that must be awful. I don’t know how you do it’.
“However, I can honestly say my job is great fun and I love it.
“I get to make people smile and celebrate their journey, no matter how long or short. What could be better than that?
“There’s lots of variety and scope to try new things in different environments, either in the sensory room or hydro pool, in the garden or on the care floor, and it’s such a rewarding job.
“We celebrate all the achievements our service users and families make and it’s so lovely to acknowledge these small but mighty things.”
Lauren always knew she wanted to work in paediatrics and spent the first eight years of her career working with children in the community.
She then joined the Acute Hospital Trust and spent the next three years on the children’s ward at Colchester General Hospital.
“I then decided I wanted to become more specialist and work in palliative care – somewhere I could use my skills from previous roles while at the same time building relationships with families and tailoring what I was doing to meet the needs of the service-user and their family,” said the 33-year-old.
“I have quite a big commute now and that was one of the things I worried about, when I first came here.
“I was doubling my journey time and tripling my mileage from where I was before.
“However, it was definitely the right decision and I’m so glad I got this job.
“I get so much joy out of coming to work and that makes it very worthwhile.
“The fact I have to sit in my car a little longer doesn’t really matter, because I love what I do and love working for EACH.
“Of course, we have some sad and emotive times but, even in those moments, we can still help the families and that’s what makes it so lovely.
“At a time when it’s so hard for them, we can bring them something positive and that’s really important.”
