Gemma’s care journey began long before she ever put on a purple Jessie May top. For eight years, she worked night shifts as a carer with the Lifetime service, supporting children with life‑limiting and life‑threatening conditions.
“I used to do 10pm–7am nights looking after children very much like our Jessie May children,” she told us. “And after a while I thought, do you know what? I’m actually quite good at this. So I decided to do my nursing.”
It wasn’t an easy path. Gemma trained while raising three young daughters, juggling full‑time placements with night shifts to keep her family afloat. “It was really hard… but once I got to my second year, I thought, I’m halfway there, keep going.”
That determination, that quiet, steady resilience, is exactly what makes Jessie May nurses extraordinary.
Finding Jessie May
After qualifying, Gemma spent eight years on the Lighthouse Ward at Bristol Children’s Hospital, caring for children with kidney conditions and supporting families through dialysis and transplants. But when a secondment with Jessie May appeared, something clicked.
“This is what I went into nursing to do,” she said. “I thought, I’m going to go for this.”
What was meant to be a six‑month secondment turned into two years… and counting.
“It doesn’t feel like that,” she laughed. “I still feel new. It’s so different in the community. On the ward you can press the emergency bell and everyone comes running. But, in the community, you’re on your own. It’s a big step, but I love it.”
But it’s a step she’s taken with the compassionate and thoughtful care that families feel from her every day.
A Day in the Life
No two days ever look the same for a Jessie May nurse, and Gemma’s stories bring that to life.
A day might start with a planned home visit, only for a parent to message that morning to say their child has been admitted to hospital. Other times, Gemma and a colleague will head into hospital to see a child, only to check the system and realise they were discharged an hour earlier. Plans change constantly, and the team adapts around whatever families need in that moment.
“You think you’ve got a plan in place… and then it’s not,” Gemma said. “But that’s part of the job. It’s about working together as a team and figuring out who needs us and where we can go next.”
Her days are filled with moments that most people never see:
- bathing a child who needs hoisting and specialist equipment
- suctioning a tracheostomy when a child is struggling to breathe
- supporting a parent who’s anxious
- filling in detailed paperwork
- checking emergency care plans
- helping a child reach milestones
- being a calm, skilled presence in hospital rooms
And sometimes, the moments are pure magic.
She told us about an eight‑year‑old boy she met on Caterpillar Ward in Bristol. He’d been quiet, withdrawn, not interacting with anyone. But within minutes, he had Gemma and a student nurse standing on an imaginary stage, singing If You’re Happy and You Know It at full volume.
“At one point I thought we were going to get a knock on the door to say, can we keep the noise down!” she laughed. “It was so lovely. Mum said he hasn’t interacted with anyone… and there he was, singing his heart out.”
These are the moments that stay with her.
What She Loves Most
When asked what part of her job she finds most meaningful, Gemma didn’t hesitate.
“Personal care,” she said. “Things like bathing or showering a child is such a privilege to give them that time.”
She explained how long and physically demanding bathing can be for families – the hoisting, the equipment, the safety checks, the creams and pads and pyjamas. “For us it’s a privilege. For parents, it’s a huge weight lifted.”
And that’s the heart of Jessie May: giving families time, space, and moments of normality.
“You come out and you feel like you’ve really helped,” she said. “You’ve made a difference.”
There’s one child in particular who has stayed with Gemma from her early days in the team. When she first joined Jessie May, she didn’t yet have the long‑standing relationships that many of her colleagues had built over years. But this little one was one of the first children she saw regularly, and watching him grow made a real impression on her. He had been born prematurely, needed tube feeding, and used CPAP overnight when he was younger. Over time, Gemma saw him get stronger, meet his milestones, and slowly need less medical support.
“Because I’d seen him so often, I really got to know him,” she said. “It was lovely to see how far he’d come.”
For Gemma, those moments – being alongside a child as they grow, change, and surprise everyone – are some of the most meaningful parts of the job.
The Challenges
Like all nursing roles, there are hard days too.
Gemma spoke honestly about the emotional weight of the job. “You do think of families in your own time,” she said. “But I’ve learned to reflect in the car, and then leave it. If I carried it all the time, I’d never switch off.”
Lone working can also be tough. “If you’ve had a tricky visit, when there’s two of you, you can come out and talk about it. When you’re on your own, you don’t have that. I like to feel part of a team.”
But even on the hardest days, she finds strength in the children, the families, and her colleagues.
What She Wishes People Knew
Gemma is passionate about helping people understand what Jessie May nurses really do.
She worries that the words ‘children’s hospice’ on their uniforms can scare new families. “They don’t know what we do at first. They think… is my child going to die? And I always explain: we’re here to help you live your life. We do so much more.”
She wants people to know that Jessie May nurses become part of the family’s world – trusted, welcomed, relied upon.
“If you’re going in to look after the most precious thing ever, you’ve got to build that rapport. You’ve got to gain their trust – and the child’s trust too.”
Gemma’s experience is just one of many within our team. Every Jessie May nurse carries their own stories – the uplifting moments, the difficult ones, and everything in between. What they all share is a genuine commitment to giving families the support, time, and reassurance they need.
As Gemma said so simply and beautifully:
“Every day is different. But you come out of a visit and you feel like you’ve really helped. That’s what matters.”
This International Nurses Day, we celebrate Gemma, and every Jessie May nurse, for the extraordinary care they give, the trust they build, and the moments of joy they create in the most difficult circumstances.
They are, quite simply, remarkable.
