Night nurse was 'so kind, brilliant, lovely, down to earth'

Daffodil Day 2026

Hayley Forde and family from Delvin say their story is, unfortunately, like those of many others dealing with loved ones dying at home from cancer. The story about her father, Jimmy Cruise (RIP) has featured in this year’s Irish Cancer Society (ICS) campaign in the run-up to Daffodil Day, this Friday, March 20.

This is the story, as told by the ICS: “You hear about hospice, but you don’t realise how much you need it. We’re really blessed that we got the night nurse because all my dad wanted was to be at home, so thank God, we got to keep him home.”

Hayley Forde’s father, Jimmy, was a “no fuss” kind of person. “He was a quick witted, funny man, the simple things in life were all that mattered to Dad,” she says. He had prostate health problems for 18 months beginning in 2023 when his health started to deteriorate. Then seven weeks before he was referred to have a night nurse, Jimmy was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Hayley, 50, a carer from Delvin, says her family hadn’t had much sleep or respite since her dad was diagnosed with cancer. Hayley and her brothers lived nearby, on the same road as their parents, and her mam and the family wanted to care for Jimmy in his home.

Their palliative care team referred Hayley’s family to the ICS Night Nursing service. “They knew that Dad needed that extra support, and we needed the rest,” she says. “We’d never had anybody come into the house before to give care.

“We were delighted because we were feeling a bit out of our depth. She came in at 11 o’clock at night and was just so amazing, so kind, so brilliant, so lovely, and down to earth,” she says. “She was a great support. We were so blessed.”

Hayley says she and her family were sleep deprived since her father had been diagnosed with lung cancer. But with the support of their night nurse, Anne, they could receive rest and guidance. “We all could sleep; we could leave knowing that he was in really good hands. We didn’t realise how much guidance and care he needed, and we needed.

“It’s a lot of work, especially towards the end, you need hospice care because of medication and everything. I’d say to families: if you’re being advised to link in with palliative care services, take it with both hands.”

Anne, Jimmy’s night nurse, cared for him every night for a week. Hayley says she didn’t want to have the responsibility to alert her family if her dad passed away at night time and was relieved when Anne was able to take that on. “You just need that rest, you need that guidance, and the person needs that special care as well,” she says.

“Dad passed away on a Saturday morning at 11.58. Anne had gone home but she had chatted to us and had given us advice and that was a huge help. She had done that every night she came in. It was a very peaceful passing.”

Hayley is grateful for the service and would encourage nurses that have the experience to work for the ICS as a night nurse.

“It’s such a worthwhile job, and they get to offer one-to-one care to the patient. They probably go home every day, they have to and feel that they’ve made a difference, because they really have. They’re making a huge difference to families and to the person who’s sick.

“Everybody’s emotional and stressed. At the end of the day, we all do jobs, but it’s such a worthwhile job. They are really making a difference for families,” she says. “I don’t know if you can find anything more rewarding, they’re special people.”

Without the service, Hayley says that her father would’ve had more difficulty fulfilling his wish to pass away in his own home. “Without palliative care, hospice and the Irish Cancer Society, maybe Dad would have been able to stay at home, but it wouldn’t have been as comfortable and good as it was to him.

“Unfortunately, it’s a service that so many families need nowadays.”