I would like to share my story with all of you and hope to inspire others to do the same.
I have been working at Cygnet for 15 years in various roles; ranging from Support Worker to Therapy Coordinator, and now a Physical Health Nurse and non-medical prescriber.
Before my career as a healthcare professional, I worked as a self-employed graphic designer.
However, this did not work out for me and I became stuck in my life at 28 years old, unsure of what I would do next.
A good friend of mine, who had been working in care (residential homes) for some years asked me to consider pursuing a healthcare career.
In 2009 I applied for the role of a Support Worker at St Augustine’s Hospital and I have not looked back since.
I have worked in various roles gaining a greater understanding of mental health, and the individual’s care pathway, from admission to treatment plan, and eventually discharge back into the community.
I always took great pride and compassion whilst supporting the individuals in our care.
So I decided to aspire to become a Nurse.
In 2015, I applied for a Degree in Adult Nursing. After qualifying in 2019, I worked at a local hospital in an Elderly Care Ward. I supported people with a range of physical health and mental health conditions.
In 2020, the manager at St Augustine’s contacted me to inform me that Cygnet was looking to employ physical health nurses within their services – this at the time, was relatively new for Cygnet and a fantastic proposition for me.
I applied for the role and was successful following the Interview.
I was back where I belonged.
Whilst in the post, I was fortunate to be offered a wonderful opportunity with Cygnet to apply for further education and to work towards my qualification as a non-medical prescriber.
Needless to say, I leaped at the opportunity and qualified some 8 months later.
I was amongst the first cohort of Cygnet employees to have this amazing opportunity, and I am grateful for the support throughout my course.
So this is where I am now; the Physical Health Lead at St Augustine’s and a non-medical prescriber.
I would like to share a message on what is particularly important to me and one that I feel all healthcare professionals should adopt or at least consider.
We need to advocate for the individuals in our care.
Some of our service users receive little to no support from family, friends, and even the healthcare system.
Sadly, there is still a lot of negative stigma attached to the individuals in our care. As such, we as healthcare professionals should be speaking up on their behalf.
Be their voice, and provide them with the information they need, so they are able to make informed decisions and communicate with other healthcare professionals.
Educate external providers too to better understand the impact that our service users’ mental health may have on their well-being when attending appointments for investigations and/or follow-up care.
Listen to our service users’ concerns, to better understand them and empower them to have a voice and to use that voice to better communicate their needs.
Check out more from Simon via his Vlog on the subject of patient advocacy here
Simon came to nursing relatively late, having trained as a graphic designer. However, his 15-year career journey with Cygnet challenges gender stereotypes about nursing. His career progression from a support worker to a therapy coordinator and now a physical health nurse and non-medical prescriber is absolutely worth highlighting and celebrating.
Thank you, Simon, from everyone at Cygnet for sharing your career journey with us and for your 15 years of wonderful service, and may it continue for many more years to come!
