My path to becoming a mental health nurse was not conventional. I completed my nursing undergraduate degree in 1990 after failing nursing theory twice and began working at Long Bay Jail. I worked for a year in the medical surgery ward until I was transferred to the Forensic Psychiatry Ward — caring for people found not guilty of violent crime due to mental ill health. I was very young and inexperienced, and to say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. My first experience of being a mental health nurse involved working with severe presentations of mental ill health that had resulted in tragic outcomes. During my four years working at Long Bay Jail, I was unsure if I wanted to be a nurse. During this period of doubt, I applied to work with the fire brigade, but was unsuccessful due to being colour blind.
After deciding to explore and develop my nursing career I worked in inpatient mental health and community mental health. It was during this time I decided to have an adventure and work in London. This led to three years working in homeless mental health in central London and two years working in an inner-city Emergency Department — the first 24-hour mental health liaison nursing service embedded in an emergency department in the United Kingdom. I returned to Sydney (with a one-year stopover in Perth working in alcohol and other drugs) and have since worked as a Mental Health Clinical Nurse Consultant in a team that provides support to people living with HIV.
During this time, I have had the opportunity to work across several healthcare settings and have experienced an amazing and diverse range of people experiencing mental ill health. I have had the good fortune to support people to navigate and live through some challenging and tough times. My work with people living with HIV has provided further scope to my practice — amazing tales of resilience and sadness, and on occasions, working with people at end of life. When I began working as a mental health nurse, I never imagined I would have met such a diverse range of people. This includes colleagues within mental health and in the wider scope of healthcare providers.
Being a mental health nurse also provides significant challenges. I have worked with people at the end of life stage. Although I am fortunate to support people at this stage, it can also be challenging. I remember the people I have cared for at end of life vividly and it can be difficult working with the fear and sadness.
My work in mental health gave me the opportunity to join the Public Health Association of Australia. I was a Co-convener for the Mental Health Special Interest Group and was a representative at the National Mental Health Commission and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Roundtable for Intentional Self Harm and Suicide at the Human Rights Commission for Children.
My greatest achievement as a nurse was being nominated and awarded the NSW Health Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Award 2020 — Healing Heart Award for Exceptional Care. I was nominated by someone I had worked with who had experienced significant trauma from childhood. It was an amazing honour and reminded me of the impact I have had as a mental health nurse. I often reflect on my work and feel fortunate to have found a job that I am good at and that is never boring.