Nurses Jane Richardson and Laura McCormack spoke to Ryan Tubridy on Wednesday’s episode of The Ryan Tubridy Show.
The admirable nurses opened up about their remarkable work with patients, and what led them to create ChillJill for women suffering from menopause.
The pair created a business to help women through menopause and perimenopause.
READ MORE:Police officer shot by masked men named as John Caldwell as PSNI launch attempted murder probe
As two nurses experiencing peri and menopausal symptoms, the nurses started their journey into the world of business in 2020 with an idea influenced by them working in the medical field during Covid times.
As nurses, they always look for practical solutions and began their journey to help women in similar situations.
The aim was to create something that was practical, easy to carry and help keep you cool and calm anytime, anywhere, by selling sanitary products and cooling products.
Jane told Ryan: "My background is paediatric and oncology care, I worked in John's Ward, Crumlin for 20 years.
Laura explained: "I started in general nursing in Waterford Regional Hospital, then moved up to Dublin, Romance brought me up here, I worked in Temple Street for 16 years, at the moment I look after families with cleft lip and palate."
Jane added: "It’s a very privileged role."
Ryan asked: “Why is it a privilege to deliver such sad news?"
Jane: "It’s the cruellest thing that can ever happen, but it’s a privilege to help them and support them in their darkest time.
"It’s an honour, you’re there to support the families, because it’s the families and children going through them, we only play a small part, it’s holding their hands when the consultant tells them the news.
"I remember one girl in particular, her Mum couldn’t tell her, and asked me to tell her.
"We both cried."
Jane described one experience where she had to tell a teenage girl she was going to pass away from her illness.
Jane added: "The language is age-appropriate, I said, 'I’m so sorry darling', and she asked me 'Am I going to die?'
"She was amazing, she wanted to write a will, we did that, even in such a tragedy, there can be humour, the priest was amazed by this girl.
"The children never leave you, you remember little things about each child."
Laura explained what she does in nursing, "Cleft lip is regularly detected on ultrasound but cleft palate is only occasionally picked up if associated with other symptoms during scan."
"A cleft palate is an opening in the lip and can run through the gum line, it happens in utero and the face is fully formed by week nine or 10, it will remain there, and will need a surgical intervention."
Laura explained that the team she works for looks after children on an individual basis, and prepares parents and children for difficult conversations.
She told the radio host: "It’s a shock for parents, after they’ve dealt with it, it’s the right information after that, getting the info together, so they know what they’re dealing with, the biggest concern is feeding, with breastfeeding too, it’s an important factor, we explore all options, we would also counsel them with surgeries, I work as part of a big team, it’s a fantastic service."
She described a six-year-old Dublin girl who humorously said: "Aw me ma’s nerves are in tatters."
The nurses previously appeared on the business show and their friendship was formed on the basis they were collecting their children from creche.
"I was struggling with the symptoms of perimenopause and went to Laura for advice, I had gone from being a calm, organised person to forgetting people, getting anxious, getting brain fog, I was going 'this is crazy!' I was anxious I would forget someone's name."
Jane hilariously shared that she bought a dog cooling mat during her hot flushes.
"I went to a hotel with my husband, I had hot flashes and I went to the shop and bought a dog cooling mat to lie down."
Laura, being further along on her menopausal journey, searched online to look for a gift to support Jane. She soon found that there wasn’t very much available to help manage the symptoms.
At that time the most popular gift suggestion online "for the woman in your life coping with menopause symptoms" was a Bubble bath and chocolate gift set.
Laura added: "I went online to see if there was anything that would help Jane, and help, I thought wouldn’t it be lovely if there was something to help."
They both had a bit of a laugh about this and then the conversation turned to what they would consider a useful gift.
"It’s becoming more talked about, the moderate to severe symptoms can be debilitating, men are starting to realise this too." Laura said.
Tubridy responded: "It is important for men to know too."
From appearing on The Late Late Show, the nurses got the chance to be part of the National Menopause Summit on March 23 in The Mansion House.
You can check out their business at https://chilljill.ie/.
READ NEXT:
Biometric analysis 'rules out' woman claiming she's Madeleine McCann
Police officer shot by masked men named as John Caldwell as PSNI launch attempted murder probe
Argos customers in Ireland warned over urgent recall of couches due to fire risk
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
