How the nurturing environment of St Luke’s, plus her own gentle strength and tenacity, have helped Anca thrive in her role at St Luke’s.

When you’ve arrived from overseas to live in another country and are still learning its language, you often rely on the non-verbal cues you pick up from those around you to help you adapt to the culture and your new surroundings. It is an experience Staff Nurse Anca Marasescu – who arrived in Plymouth from Romania in 2011 – has found helpful to draw on in her work caring for patients and supporting their relatives at our specialist unit at Turnchapel.

Anca, who lives in the city with her husband and twin daughters, said: “It is so important to be sensitive to how our patients and their families are feeling, which is about more than just listening to their words. Sometimes, the look in their eyes, or their posture, can tell me more about how they are feeling – and how they might want to receive my help – than what they say.

“I don’t see myself as special because as a team we all very attentive to them and their needs. We each bring our own unique perspective to our role at St Luke’s, and I think my experience of adapting to life and work in a foreign country, and not always being able to rely on words because the language was new, has become a strength and part of what makes me empathic in what I do. I never forget that our patients and their loved ones who visit them at Turnchapel are in an unfamiliar environment so need gentle support and extra reassurance.”

When Anca joined our charity in 2017, she was new to hospice care but not to nursing itself, having worked first in a neo-natal unit in Romania, taking care of newborn babies needing intensive care, and then at Derriford, where she was a nurse looking after patients on Lynher Ward.

Anca said: “Though it wasn’t something I deliberately planned, my career has taken me from caring for new lives and then to nursing adults – usually those in middle age – to where I am now, giving care to people approaching the end of their lives.

“When I started working at Turnchapel I was out of my comfort zone and, with so much to learn about the specialist service St Luke’s provides it did feel daunting. As well as the support I got from my family, who are always telling me, “You can do it!”, what helped was the warm welcome I received and the consistent encouragement I’ve had from colleagues to always be myself while soaking up as much as I can. They know me and my ironic humour, and they’ve never wanted me to change or to lose my accent.”

Anca also cites the strong leadership the team has from Nicola Pereira, Head of Inpatient Nursing Services, and Sister Karen Thorrington as being key to her growth and development at St Luke’s.

“It doesn’t matter where I turn help is there, so I always feel well supported. Feedback from my manager Karen is really helpful, and when she described seeing my progress as just like watching a bud come into blossom, it really touched me to know that I am making a difference.

“As well as helping our patients feel as at ease as possible, just like the rest of the team I am always thinking of their relatives, too. Knowing that they will always remember how they felt when their loved one died, I reassure them that they did their best for that person. Giving them that comfort is really important because it helps them process what has happened and, over time, come to terms with such a significant loss. I think of my own family and how I would want them to be treated in that situation.”

“I’m really happy that in working with the St Luke’s team I have found somewhere that feels like home. We appreciate our similarities and also recognise that our differences are a strength and help us learn from each other. Regardless of how long they stay, everyone who chooses to work at the hospice is special.”

If you are interested in joining our team at St Luke’s, you can find out more and see our current vacancies here.