Barbara
I work in one of Richmond Fellowship's care homes with nursing. Here, RF has created a relaxed, friendly and homely environment for people who have severe and enduring mental health problems.
I enjoy my job because of the challenge that each service user brings. I became a mental health nurse so that I could support people just like those I work with now and working for RF, you are in your turn supported to do just that.
I would encourage other nurses to experience the type of professionalism, team work and relaxed atmosphere that I do.
My experience of working in hospitals is that they can be rigid and impersonal places where service users may become institutionalised.
Here, staff are encouraged to provide a caring, supportive, homely environment in which the service users rights and dignity are respected and their abilities stretched. Due to decent staffing levels, I have been able to build up trusting relationships with clients and even take some people out on trips.
I also found that RF was as committed to developing its staff as well as its service users. We are offered training that is not only relevant to service users needs but makes it easy to keep up on research based practice. I wouldn't want to work anywhere else.