Handle with Care: Confessions of a District Nurse

These notes are dedicated to the most heartbreaking, scandalous, and frankly inhumane situations Rachel has encountered—she is a visiting nurse with over 40 years of experience.

Rachel Hirson is a visiting nurse with more than 40 years of practice. “The work of a visiting nurse happens behind closed doors: invisible, but no less important. We’re granted a privilege and unique access to every family with children under 5 years old: our office is your living room. Our duty is to visit you at home. When you have a small child, we become the only professional medical staff who constantly care for him.”

A visiting nurse is one of the professions that people often treat with undeserved disdain. “What’s the big deal—just come over to drink tea! How does that compare to the work of a real nurse, the kind who helps in a hospital?”

That’s completely not true. A visiting nurse is a professional medical worker who has completed three years of training and is sent to work “among the people” at her own risk. Here, behind you there’s no support team you can call in a critical situation. And you don’t sit with the owners by the hearth, and you don’t get a break in the form of heartfelt conversations with colleagues during lunch. And there’s simply no one around to ask, “Do you think I’m not making a mistake?”

These notes are about the most heartbreaking, scandalous, and openly inhumane situations that Rachel had to face during her work in the UK’s National Health Service.