“I am studying on the Mental Health Nursing BSc Hons Degree Apprenticeship at the University of Greenwich and my employer is Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.”
“I chose to do a Degree Apprenticeship as I could not afford to do my degree in any other way. I can earn while I learn and there are no student loans. I have had the full support of my base team at Oxleas, who I have been with for 15 years, as well as the Nurse Education Team who are promoting this new way of learning.”
“Initially, I found it difficult to remember when I was a student and when I was an employee. I found it challenging as I have worked for Oxleas for 15 years and have had several roles and at times feel like I need to be involved with certain things. I have overcome this by making sure that I have boundaries and put myself in a mindset that I am learner.”
“Good communication with the Trust’s Nurse Education Team and Greenwich has been key, particularly Alice Neal who is our Apprenticeship Lead and Personal Tutor at Greenwich.”
“I think that Greenwich is special as it has experienced lecturers who have different specialities and backgrounds working within mental health nursing which in turn provides varied learning experiences that are practical and interactive. You are encouraged to push yourself to reach your full potential.”
“I have been able to achieve personal and professional development goals such as improved confidence in myself and academic work. For example, I was able to stand up at the annual nursing conference and deliver a presentation to over a 100 people about my journey through Oxleas and becoming a part of the apprenticeship programme. Recently I was featured in the Trust’s apprenticeship information booklet and had a professional photographer come out to me in practice to help with documenting this. I would never have had the courage or confidence to do this before.”
“Professionally, I have been able to improve my academic skills which has had a positive impact on things such as report writing and other required clinical documentations.”
“Working together with service users in the role of a mental health nurse can help to improve many aspects of their lives. By responding to their preferences and concerns, recognising and respecting contributions they can make in relation to their own health and wellbeing encourages empowerment and collaborative working to deliver care to meet their needs. This may be done by equipping service users with the tools to manage symptoms of psychosis, medication management, integration back into society perhaps after a period of isolation and developing skills needed for activities of daily living.”
“One of the great things is that I will be able to go back to my Oxleas team (Intensive Case Management for Psychosis Team) as a registered nurse rather than a support worker and continue to work with service users to a greater extent in managing their mental health such as managing symptoms of psychosis, medication management and integration back into the community. Working with this service user group is something I am passionate about and cannot wait to go back and continue this work as a Registrant.”
“It has been an amazing learning experience and has provided me with a fantastic opportunity to develop skills not just around nursing itself but around communication, academic skills and confidence to name but a few.”
*Photo courtesy of Peta Miller, Senior Graphic Designer from Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.
