Galway hospice foundation highlights importance of palliative care nursing through International Nurses Day campaign

Galway Hospice Foundation marked International Nurses Day by celebrating the compassion, expertise, and humanity of nurses and healthcare assistants working across its services. Throughout the week, Galway and Mayo Hospices shared reflections from members of their nursing teams to recognise the many ways nurses contribute to hospice care every day.

The campaign explored the meaning of palliative care nursing, the importance of dignity and connection, and the impact small moments of kindness can have during some of life’s most difficult times. It was developed around this year’s International Nurses Day theme: ‘Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives’, which highlights the vital role nurses play not only in clinical care, but also in providing comfort, dignity, connection, and support for patients and families at some of life’s most difficult moments.

Mayo Hospice nurse, Eugene Slattery, described palliative care nursing as “giving more of what matters most – time, comfort, and dignity”. He said: “People rarely remember clinical interventions. They remember kindness. They remember being listened to. They remember being treated like a person, not a diagnosis.”

Kevin Finnegan, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Community Palliative Care Team, Galway Hospice, also highlighted the importance of supporting people at home with dignity and compassionate care: “Our aim is to empower patients to live at home with dignity, whilst being able to access a professional and compassionate programme of care designed around them and their families. A referral to us does not mean that hope is lost; it means support, comfort, and care when it is needed most.”

For many nurses working in hospice care, supporting quality of life, human connection, and emotional wellbeing is just as important as clinical care.

Laura Glynn, Nurse at Galway Hospice, described palliative care nursing simply as: “Being a safe hand to reach for.” Together, these reflections highlight the deeply human side of hospice nursing – where presence, empathy, and compassion are often just as, if not more, important as clinical expertise and intervention.

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