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Bursary helps nurses develop their skills in caring for people who are terminally ill

The National Garden Scheme is sponsoring a bursary fund to allow Marie Curie nurses to undertake specialist palliative and end of life care qualifications
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Nurses will have more opportunities to develop their skills in caring for terminally ill people thanks to new sponsorship. 

The National Garden Scheme (NGS) is sponsoring a bursary fund that benefits nurses and other registered healthcare professionals who work for Marie Curie. Nurses can undertake post-registration qualifications or specialist university modules in palliative and end of life care, with help from the fund. 

The money is expected to benefit between 20 and 30 Marie Curie professionals each year. 

Enhancing care

Marie Curie nurse Ian Chisholm, who is already completing a master’s degree in palliative care with support from the fund, said: ‘The degree has given me a different way of looking at what I do and what others do. I sometimes think, is there a better way we can go about this? What is the evidence behind what we’re doing?’

The NGS – with its famous Yellow Book directory of gardens that owners open to the public – raises funds for good causes through entry fees, teas and plant sales. It has raised more than £50 million for UK nursing charities in the past 90 years, including more than £7 million for Marie Curie since 1997. 

Marie Curie director of nursing Dee Sissons said: 'The bursary fund will go a long way to helping more of our nurses feel more confident in making those important decisions when they’re supporting people with a terminal illness and their loved ones.'

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