Supporting Admiral Nurses

Last week it was my pleasure to meet an Admiral Nurse -  one of only two who work in Warwickshire. Admiral nurses are specialist mental health nurses who specialise in supporting  people with dementia adn their families similar to MacMillan nurses who support people with cancer.

Admiral nurses seek to improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their carers right from diagnosis to end-of-life.  They help families to develop caring skills and promote a positive approach to living with dementia.  John Suchet the broadcaster whose wife, Bonnie, has developed Alzheimer's has nothing but praise for the Admiral Nursed who supported them  and gave them hope during their difficult journey.

With the incidence of dementia on the rise - here in the Warwick district alone in 2008 there were 1609 people over 65 diagnosed with dementia and this is predicted to rise to 2,378 by 2025.  We NEED MORE Admiral Nurses to support both the people with dementia and their families in the coming years.  At the moment it's a bit of a postcode lottery - if you live in North Warwickshire you have a chance of seeing  Rachel the Admiral Nurse even if you may have to wait a while but if you live in South Warwickshire you have no chance although there is  telephone helpline support in the form of ADMIRAL DIRECT.

With another hat on I am also a member of a business and professional women's organisation called Soroptimist International. This year I am president of the Rugby club and I have chosen to support Admiral Nurses as one of my charities for the year.  I recently invited Rachel the Admiral Nurse (see photo above) to speak to our group and her role and the success of Admiral Nurses was truely inspiring.   We hope to raise money for Admiral Nurses this year and hope we can also spread the word about their invaluable work and call for more Admiral Nurses to support people with demetia and their families in south and east Warwickshire as well.
For more information on Admiral Nurses go to: http://www.dementiauk.org/
For more information on SureCare go to http://www.surecarewarks.co.uk/