I started my nursing career 28 years ago as a healthcare assistant on one of the OPMH wards. I really enjoyed working with patients and their families. I particularly enjoyed driving the minibus to take the patients for chips and a pale ale with a good sing song throughout the journey. I then decided to embark on my RMN training in 1991 and was in the first intake of the project 2000 course, starting at Bournemouth School of Nursing, then moving to the Bournemouth University.
As part of my training I work at Ravenswood regional secure unit and on qualifying I worked on the forensic ward at St Ann’s and then the Acute wards on the unit. After a period of inpatient nursing I worked in CMHTs in Bournemouth and Poole and became Team Leader for Poole Central CMHT.
During my time in the community I experienced events that led to my interest in clinical risk - being interviewed as part of a homicide review and also being involved in a serious incident of my own. This is when my passion began for trying to ensure that learning could take place in a way that is helpful for the family, patient and staff.
I took on a secondment role in 2004 as a clinical risk advisor working with the Medical Director to focus on Suicide prevention, management of violence and aggression and clinical risk in mental health. This role grew and over time becoming Head of Patient Safety and Risk and incorporated incident reporting, safeguarding audits and children.
In January 2017 I was please take up my current role and start working with staff to support the great improvements that were taking place in practice. Some of the most challenges experiences for me have been meeting with families who have lost their loved one due to suicide. Seeing the impact that this has on both families and staff is a constant reminder of the complexities that we experience working with people who have a variety of different hopes and wishes.
Being open to others views and ideas helps us to try new things and advance practice.
As illustrated in quote below by from Alice in Wonderland.
‘She drank from a bottle called drink me And she grew so tall She ate from a plate called taste me And down she shrank so small And so she changed, while other folks Never tried noth’in at all’
There have been, and continue to be a great many opportunities to be proud to be a nurse - from minibus trips to connections that I have made with patients, their families and staff that have made a difference in some way.
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