Making a patient feel somebody is on their side by offering them all the support they need is one of the main aims of a community nurse, according to Sarah Clifford-Cox.

She said: "Our job is about trying to make the end of someone's life as easy, anxiety-free and comfortable as possible."

Sarah has been a community nurse at Trinity Hospice for two-and-a-half years and belongs to one of three nursing teams that go into the community to help people who are terminally ill.

Her patients live in Battersea, Tooting and Balham, and she visits them regularly in their homes to assess how they are, give advice and offer support.

The people she looks after can also go to the hospice for other services for example to attend its day centre or receive therapeutic care.

She said half of a community nurse's job is about bringing together the right people such as district nurses, GPs and social services to ease a patient's burdens and worries, including financial concerns and physical pain.

She added: "Our primary responsibility is to the patient, but you do extend your care to the rest of the family and provide them with support by offering them counselling and complimentary sessions at the hospice."

Enabling a family to feel everything possible is being done to make their loved one comfortable is essential.

Sarah believes the objective is for people to have what is termed a "good death". This is when someone dies where they want, with no unresolved issues, and where patient and family are together.

One of her most positive experiences involved a patient who initially was adamant he did not want Trinity Hospice to be involved. At first it was difficult to build a rapport, but over an 18-month period that eventually changed.

She said: "He decided to come here and died very peacefully with his family around him."

Sarah said her community nursing team is very close and its members support each other. To do the job, she believes you have to be able to stand back a little bit.

She added: "You have to be interested in people. It's about treating people how you would like to be treated. You want the best for people and you have to be willing to be involved."