BJN Awards 2019: mental health nurse of the year—runner up

I was nominated by my manager for mental health nurse of the year in the BJN Awards 2019 because of my work in mental health nursing education and development. I had never been in this situation before, and it was quite a surprise to be shortlisted.

I have worked as a nurse in education and development for more than 25 years. I started nursing in 1983 and have worked in all the various areas of mental health practice during that time.

My interest in education and practice development started when I realised that mental health nursing practice varied across different services and localities. I also noticed that the training that students received varied between universities. After involvement in training in my local mental health trust, I was given an opportunity to undertake a part-time secondment with the local university. This arrangement allowed me to work part time in the university and part time in the trust each week. This worked well and I was able to develop my teaching skills and move into writing and leading on module developments for pre- and postregistration programmes.