Tina is a lead clinical nurse working for HPFT. Her role involves assessing new mental health nurses for the team. Previously, Tina worked as a mental health nurse for many decades. She qualified as a mental health nurse in 1998, working on the acute ward at Chase Farm and went on to have longevity in her career through working as a nurse and hospital manager within the Hertfordshire CAMHS Eating Disorders Team.

Tina Fisher Clinical Lead Nurse

Tina has a lot of passion and love for her job. She feels: “Patient facing nursing is my true passion and so I joined the Hertfordshire CAMHS Eating Disorder Team from its birth in 2009. There were just two nurses in the beginning and the team has now grown to over 30 team members.”

When Tina worked as a mental health nurse, she was able learn and implement various techniques which she advises other nurses, who want to go into mental health nursing, to understand and use. Some of these include focusing on interactions with people who are vulnerable and always treating other people as you wish to be treated. Tina explains how demanding the role is and that individuals should create a solid foundation in nursing and be aware that there is a lot of administration in the role of a mental health nurse. If they wish to choose this as a career, they should understand that it requires a lot of administration. It is also a tough job and individuals wanting to work in this profession need to take care of their own mental and physical health to ensure they are doing well.

Tina says:

“The trust values are my own values and I have always treated the people I meet as if they were as important as my own family. It doesn’t take much to go the extra mile and to really give people your time. Being a mental health nurse can mean we are there with people who are at the lowest and most vulnerable points in their life. Our job is to help people feel heard and safer and to offer therapeutic interventions and NICE concordant treatment to facilitate recovery.”

Having worked within the industry for decades, Tina feels she has had many outstanding moments like winning individual awards. One of her most memorable moments was when the team won Health Service Journal Awards in 2016.

Being a mental health nurse comes with its own challenges. The role demands mental and physical challenges. Tine explains her experience: “When I changed my role from nurse to hospital manager this brought its own challenges adjusting to the role. The most stressful challenge recently was during 2020 trying to adapt to different ways of working during the pandemic and the unprecedented rate of referrals we received. Adapting to some working from home and the level of interruption was difficult and working a lot of hours trying to keep up with the high rate of work. I cannot imagine anything other than being a nurse. I love people and it’s an honour to have this role.”