| Jo Hockley |
 A Clinical Nurse Specialist and Research Fellow at St Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh, Jo starts by discussing her early nursing
career which began in the 1970s when she trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital (Barts), London. After four years of general
training at Barts, she then qualified as a midwife and pursued this path for a further four years with plans for a career
in midwifery. However, after visiting St Christopher’s Hospice at the suggestion of one of her brothers, who had spent part
of his theological training at the hospice, she changed direction and began working as a staff nurse at the hospice. Six months
later, she became a ward sister. Jo Hockley describes the "vivid memories" of her early years at St Christopher's, where,
working with Dame Cicely Saunders, Mary Baines and Tom West, she was encouraged to foster and develop her interest in care
of the dying. This involved not only the practical management and alleviation of pain, but also the important idea that patients
should be psychologically supported by hospice staff. In 1982, she returned to Bart's, taking up a research post that examined
care of the dying on acute respiratory wards. She went on to establish a multi-disciplinary palliative care team that by 1991
included four nurses, and a full time doctor, social worker and secretary. Acknowledging that she "always wants a challenge",
she then left Barts and completed a Masters degree at University of Edinburgh, before moving to the Western General Hospital
in Edinburgh, again to set up a palliative care team. She is now based at St Columba's Hospice, undertaking a research project
titled 'The Bridges Initiative' that aims to disseminate and extend the ‘palliative care approach’ of the hospices to a wider
arena, in particular, to nursing homes. In this interview Jo Hockley details not only the various professional steps of her
career, but also her views on symptom and pain control, her thoughts on the spiritual dimension of care of the dying, and
her attitudes towards euthanasia. Drawing on over thirty years of nursing experience, she also describes a number of specific
moments from her career that highlight what she views as key issues in palliative care.
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| Interview conducted by Lorna Campbell, 19 September 2001 |
| Interview Duration: 1 hour |
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