My journey to becoming a mental health nurse

My journey to becoming a mental health nurse

With Amanda McIntosh, Matron, inpatient mental health services

For Mental Health Nurses Day, we caught up with Amanda McIntosh, a matron in our inpatient mental health services.

After starting her nursing journey in her late 20s, Amanda is still as enthusiastic in her role now as she was when she first became a mental health nurse.

I didn’t start my nursing journey until I was 29. I’d just had my second baby and was returning to work after maternity leave. I already had a successful career in sales and marketing. I also worked as a rep for a catering company that sold machinery. Both jobs were far removed from nursing and, as you can imagine, were very male-dominated professions in the early 1980s.

So, why the sudden career change? I previously completed an adult pre-nursing course at college when I was 16-18, but decided I could earn more money by going to work rather than doing my nurse training. When I saw an advert in the paper for a support worker role in our local services, I decided to apply.

After the interview, I pestered the lead interviewer for the next week to see if I had been successful, as I thought this was the start of an exciting new journey. I ended was successful and started working part-time at Avenue Clinic in Nuneaton on an 8-bed acute ward, to fit around the needs of my children.

My new role fascinated me. I really appreciated being in a position of trust, where patients felt safe to share their experiences. Within weeks, I knew I wanted to become a mental health nurse and changed my circumstances to make sure I could achieve this. I returned to further education for 3 years part-time, ready to go to university when my youngest child reached school age. I did various courses that were both interesting and fulfilling. It was hard work with 2 small children, but essential to get me nearer to my goal. I started my nurse training in 2000, after being seconded by the Trust I was working at. This was a great opportunity as I was able to return there after 3 years as a qualified nurse. I got the opportunity to apply for a band 6 deputy ward manager position 9 months later, where I managed the first all-female ward within the Trust.

I have since worked at all levels within inpatient nursing, working with a mixture of mental health pathways. I am now a band 8a matron at CWPT, and it’s been 5 years since I started this role. I still feel the same level of enthusiasm at work as I did in the early days, and success stories from patients make it even more rewarding. I know that nursing isn’t for everyone as it can sometimes be incredibly sad. It requires a high level of resilience and the ability to cope with an ever-changing NHS, but it’s a career that helps people change their lives. It has also shown me on a personal level that happiness is fluid: the most that people can hope for is a level of stability and contentment for their mental health.

In mental health nursing, every day is different. People are different and each day can be fascinating. Even people with the same diagnosis present differently and have different outcomes, so it’s a rewarding job.