Mental Health Awareness Week – Hannah’s Story
18-24 May is Mental Health Awareness Week and to celebrate, we are hearing from the inspirational mental health professionals from around our Trust. Today we hear from Hannah Rose, a Community Mental Health Nurse working in Portsmouth, who shares her journey into nursing and where her interest in mental health sparked from.
“I have worked as a mental health nurse in a variety of different backgrounds including older persons (OPMH) inpatient, offender care, psychiatric intensive care and now community. Working in these roles has helped me to push the boundaries of my learning and have given me a wider understanding of how mental health touches everyone in different communities, in all kinds of ways.
“My decision to start nursing was a late one, I had never thought that nursing was something I wanted to do, and I hadn’t really thought it through when I applied to university. My grannie was a general nurse and has and was always a huge part of my life. She worked in London during World War Two and afterwards went on to become a Sister, working with a Doctor in London, driving around the factories carrying out clinics in a big van.
“Whilst doing my training I was lucky enough to do a placement at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth which sparked my interest in the physical health as well as learning how to work with people with mental illness. I think this is why when I qualified, I went into the older persons mental health service - I wanted to continue to build my skills and knowledge base around physical health so that I can use it as part of my assessment skills.
“My job has brought me a lot of happiness - I’ve laughed, and I’ve cried and I have a lot of great memories. One that has always stuck with me, was the time when working in OPMH, I cared for a lady who had become unwell on holiday. She was bought back to the UK to be treated and we all thought that she was going to pass away because we could not understand what was wrong. After a number of weeks in our care, this lady improved hugely and was discharged. I bumped into her in a shop six months after she was discharged and swelled with pride and joy. It was so amazing to see her happy, healthy and chatting when not long ago, she was so poorly.
“These are the little things that make me smile every day and mean that I continue to be so passionate about my job.”