| Gloria Day |
 Gloria qualified as a State Registered Nurse in 1961 and began her nursing career as a Staff Nurse on a medical ward at the
Royal Hospital, Sheffield. Shortly afterwards, she married, had her first child, and left her job to care for her family.
However, after the birth of her second son, Gloria returned to nursing for financial reasons, taking a part-time evening job
to maximise the time she could spend with her children. Later she took a post at a school for children with spina bifida,
which involved moving into an on-site flat with her family. Two years later, Gloria left the school to become a District Nurse
and during this period, early '70s, she encountered a patient with lung cancer who wanted to talk about his approaching death,
and who had a great impact on her thoughts about end of life care. In 1971, St Luke's Hospice opened in Sheffield and after
visiting a patient there and observing "marvellous" care, Gloria discussed referring patients to the hospice with her local
GP, an idea that was not altogether well received. Gloria also had to overcome her patients' beliefs that St Luke's was a
"death house". Nevertheless, patients referred to the hospice were positive about their experience and referrals increased.
Gloria successfully applied for a six month secondment to St Luke's, afterwards returning to district nursing where she was
frequently called on by nurses and GPs to assist with dying patients. She was able to advise on pain relief and discouraged
the practice of only giving diamorphine just prior to death. When Eric Wilkes, founder of St Luke's Hospice, secured Macmillan
funding, Gloria was asked to return to hospice work and enthusiastically accepted. With Shelagh Bellamy, she became involved
in developing the Macmillan service in Sheffield in the mid 1970s, encountering opposition from some district nurses who thought
that the service was "interfering". In its early days the service experienced success and failure but developed and improved.
Gloria discusses pain relief and the use of the Brompton Cocktail, the development of educational programmes, and the introduction
of the syringe driver. As experts in the use of syringe drivers, Gloria and Shelagh were called out day and night to support
district nurses in its use. Gloria also talks about the relevance of her skills in her personal life and her post-retirement
work as a volunteer at St Luke's.
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| Interview conducted by Michelle Winslow, 9 October 2001 |
| Interview Duration: 95 minutes |
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