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Gavin and Moira - The Power of Touch

Nursing siblings compare notes on caring for patients and their families.

Gavin and Moira are the youngest of 4 children and grew up in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Only one of their siblings and their father were members of the family not to follow the family tradition of working in nursing. Gavin moved to the UK in the 1980s where he fell in love with a man called Emmanuel, who sadly contracted HIV and died of Aids four years later. Whilst caring for him Gavin felt alone and decided to train as a nurse in order to care for Emmanuel better. He is now a nurse lecturer and lives with his partner. Moira came to the UK on her own aged 15 as their mother couldn't travel with her at the time - she first lived in Scotland (a shock after Zimbabwe) then Peterborough, before she too had her nurse training in Norwich. She is now a senior nurse lecturer at Gloucester University. They initially came to the Listening Project to discuss their final wishes, but of course conversation naturally turned to their shared career. In this extract they discuss caring for patients and their families with compassion.

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4 minutes

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