Mental Health Nurses Day: an opportunity to recognise the dedication and commitment of our nursing colleagues

21 Feb 24

Today (21 February) marks the 6th annual Mental Health Nurses’ Day. It is an opportunity to celebrate mental health nurses across the country who do fantastic work every day.

HPFT has a diversity of mental health nursing roles across the Trust who work in different areas including the community, adult inpatient units, forensics and CAMHS.

To mark the day, we caught up with some of our own nurses and asked them to share why they enjoy being a Mental Health Nurse.

Mary, Staff Nurse, Oak Ward

“As a mental health nurse, I find satisfaction in seeing positive changes in patients, assisting them in overcoming obstacles and creating a supportive atmosphere. Having a positive, significant influence on someone's mental health makes my job as a nurse much more fulfilling and gives me a feeling of purpose.”

Grace, Charge Nurse, Wren Ward

“I feel privileged to be a part of people’s recovery journeys and it is very rewarding to know that the Wren team input has made a positive difference to someone’s life. Receiving positive feedback from service users and family is special. Making a difference to our society is the best reward for what l do as a mental health nurse.”

Victoria, Clinical Matron, Adult Community Mental Health

“I enjoy working with people, hearing about their experiences and learning from them. One of my favourite things about being a Clinical Matron is the opportunity to collaborate with Experts by Experience to improve our adult community mental health services through meaningful changes.”

We also spoke to some of our final year student nurses and asked them why they have decided to train as a mental health nurse and what advice they would give to anyone thinking of following in their footsteps.

Mary, Student Nurse:

“I chose the path of mental health nursing because I am passionate about breaking the stigma around mental health illness and advocating for my service users and their needs. I’ve always felt like in today’s society, more uncommon mental illnesses are demonised and stereotyped and therefore I would like to share my knowledge to educate and diminish this way of thinking. “

Laura, Student Nurse: “My own experiences of MH illness led me to want to help others. I enjoy listening to others and supporting them. Previous care work in health visiting created an interest in working in CAHMS and neurodiversity. The advice I would you give to anyone thinking of becoming a nurse would be go for it! It’s never too late! It can be challenging, but determination helps. Start a class WhatsApp group and learn from your colleagues.”

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Mental Health Nurses Day: an opportunity to recognise the dedication and commitment of our nursing colleagues