The career and vocation of being a night nurse
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What inspired Aisling McCann to become a night nurse in palliative care?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
And we're going to find out what it is like to be there for someone during their final days and their final hours. Because for my next guest, it is her career and her vocation to care for people and their families at the end of their lives. Night nurse with the Irish Cancer Society, Aisling McCann is here. Hello, Aisling.
Hi, Clare. How are you?
I'm great. Lovely to have you with us. It's such an unusual job, isn't it?
Yes, but very privileged. And I love it. And I'm so passionate about delivering palliative care at home.
How did you get into this
line
of work? Because you're just telling
me there you were a midwife at one stage. Yes, I was. I'm very proud of being a midwife. So I started off my career in Beaumont. I trained there and then I went on and trained as a midwife two years after. But when I was training in Beaumont, I'd done an elective placement in St. Francis Hospice in Rahimi and it really stuck with me and I loved it. And I just had this really strong sense that when I was ready, I was going to come back to palliative care when I grew up and got some life experience. Okay. So I had three children in the meantime, met Anthony, my husband, and had my three children and I finished my career in midwifery and I decided I was going to pursue my career in palliative care.
How does a night nurse assess a family's needs during the first visit?
So I'm working in palliative care a number of years and when the kids got older, I was always interested in the night nursing service because I love the whole ethos of being fully present with the patient and being at home and in their own environment. So I applied to the Irish Cancer Society night nursing service and I haven't looked back and I just love it. I was just saying to my colleagues, I don't even see it as a job. I just... I'm just so passionate about helping people and guiding them and supporting them at home in their own environment. It has a huge impact for the person, the patient, the family, the friends, their community, even down to their animals. I've had some great stories just how it impacts even the days after when the person dies because you're preparing them and just for that, just for the days and the weeks ahead, you know.
But it's a big...
Well, I say burden. I can't imagine how difficult it is to walk into a house where everybody knows that they're going to experience a bereavement in the coming
hours
or days.
And
you're walking in there.
Yeah. What is that like? I never see it as a challenge. I see it as a privilege, to be honest. because like birth, death can be one of the most vulnerable times of your life. But it's not vulnerable for everybody. You have to remember that. And it's this person's journey, the patient, it's their journey. They might be ready to die as well.
They
might have had a long illness trajectory and they're at peace. They want to die. But for others who, as I say, in the family and the patient can feel very vulnerable, We feel confident because as our role as the night nurse, we are there to guide and support that family and their patients and help them feel relaxed.
And it's not just medically, is it,
that guidance?
What emotional challenges do night nurses face with young parents at the end of life?
So do
you go in and try to find out a little bit about the person?
Yes, I go in and I go in and I do an assessment. But I listen, I listen. I'm always watching. I'm always listening. I'm always picking up on the non-verbal cues in the room as well. And I'll always get the patient's perspective and the family's perspective as well. You know, and I always ask the patient what they want from me.
And sometimes they might not be able to tell you.
Yes. They might be past the point where they can talk to you. Yes, they might be in a deep sleep. And then I would speak to their caregiver. It could be their wife, their daughter. And they will tell me how the patient has been. And I'll ask them, what do they want from me? What do they want? Do they want me to stay in the room for the night? Do they want me to sit out? Just what do they want from us? What kind of support
do you believe that the person who is about to die can hear you?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What inspired Aisling McCann to become a night nurse in palliative care?
0:01–1:26
2
How does a night nurse assess a family's needs during the first visit?
1:26–3:20
3
What emotional challenges do night nurses face with young parents at the end of life?
3:20–4:17
4
How do night nurses provide holistic support beyond medical care?
4:17–6:24
5
What signs indicate that a patient’s death may be imminent during a night shift?
6:24–7:54
6
How do night nurses involve pets and personal comforts to ease the dying process?
7:54–9:32
7
What role does music and other “little things” play in end‑of‑life care at home?
9:32–11:07
8
How does the Irish Cancer Society’s night nursing service differ from hospital or community nursing?
11:07–12:51