Emma Stephenson studied BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing, completing her degree in October 2023, and will graduate in 2024. In this blog, she shares her experience of studying as a mature student and how her course helped her with her job as a Community Mental Health Nurse.

Course: BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’ve been doing since you graduated?

Hi there! My name is Emma, and I am a 34 year old mother to two young children. I love cooking, all things Harry Potter and Egyptian history! I studied Mental Health Nursing at Leeds Beckett University in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, qualifying in October 2023 and will officially graduate in July 2024. Upon reflection, I am grateful for completing my degree during such uncertain times, as I believe it enabled me to become more resilient.  

When I first started my degree, I was almost certain that I wanted to work in CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), and nothing swayed my belief until I had a placement during my final year in eating disorders.  Hopefully, later down the line in my career, I can combine the two! 

Since becoming a registered Mental Health Nurse, I have taken full advantage of the Preceptorship Programme that the NHS offers all newly qualified professionals and I have worked within secondary mental health services in the community. I have been fortunate enough to be part of such a skilled, experienced, and supportive team who have helped and encouraged me tremendously throughout this process.

Tell us a bit more about your current role and why it’s amazing?

Currently, my role is a band 5 Community Mental Health Nurse in older people’s services within the NHS. I work with service users who are over the age of 65, who are suffering with a variety of mental health conditions from dementia to schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, to OCD and self-harm.  As a Community Mental Health Nurse, my role is to provide essential care to service users within their homes or in community settings by building effective and trusting relationships in order to support them and their families through treatment programmes, therapies, and lifestyle choices.  

I support service users through the transition from acute inpatient settings back into the community, and at times from community to either the intensive home treatment team or acute inpatient settings. I also administer medication which are in the form of depot injections. 

Working in the community offers more flexibility regarding the hours you work as they are generally Monday to Friday 9 to 5, which works well around my children and school. Community allows you to build therapeutic relationships with service users that differ from inpatient settings. You see them in their own homes, with their families and can support them to remain independent with the least restrictive practice and prevent hospital admissions. You are able to see the impact of your care and interventions and often become a trusted and valued part of people’s lives.  

Working with over 65’s definitely has its challenges and can be quite emotional at times, however it is truly rewarding being able to support the most vulnerable people in society who are coming up or are in the final stages of their lives. I feel privileged to be able to listen to their life stories from a society very different to now!

How did your course at Leeds Beckett help you get to where you are today? 

Being 31 when I started my degree, I was considered a mature student. I hadn’t been in education for around 13 years and honestly didn’t think I would make it, especially being a single mother of two young children! I had absolutely no clue about referencing, or how to write a ‘proper’ essay and I really felt out of my depth at times. 

Studying this degree at Leeds Beckett gave me so much more than a professional registration and career. It gave me confidence in myself and my capabilities. It relit that spark and passion for learning and education which had felt as though it was drifting further and further away from me. It gave me the opportunity to find myself again and do something that I was passionate about. 

What support or opportunities did you receive at Leeds Beckett that have helped shaped your career? 

The lecturers at Leeds Beckett were absolutely fantastic. Not only were they experienced and knowledgeable, but they were also relatable, honest and worked flat-out to support hundreds of students throughout different stages of their education. They also ensured that students took ownership, accountability, and responsibility with regards to the level of education they were studying at which was helpful because it prepared students for what they were heading into by becoming a registered nurse. 

In addition to the lectures, I found the simulation sessions very helpful, as well as the field specific smaller ATP sessions so that we could work in groups, bounce ideas off each other and share experiences in order to help with our development.

Can you tell us about a project, piece of work or experience from university that you’re proud of? 

The pre-registration exam board and nursing team decided to award me with the Collegiality Award, which is awarded to a student who has demonstrated consistent support to their peer group at university and practice. This will be presented to me at my graduation ceremony. I had no idea that there were awards given in addition to our degrees and was shocked that I had been selected, however it was very heartwarming to know that other people believed that I deserved recognition for just being me! The course is hard work, and we were all in it together.  I wanted everyone to succeed just as much as myself and I think as a whole, the cohort was very supportive of each other and helped where we could.

Aside from this award, my proudest piece of work was a reflection assignment. I took a bit of a risk to reflect on something that some may have considered to be a controversial topic at the time, but it was something that affected me in practice and challenged my own personal morals and beliefs. I was actually given the highest grade from all assignments for this particular piece of work and was extremely grateful for the person who marked it and the constructive and honest feedback they gave me. I’m glad I made the decision to do something a little different and it has given me confidence in my career to talk about things that some people may hide away from but do in fact need to be spoken about.

What would you say to someone considering studying your course?

We all come into this field because we want to help people. We are caring and compassionate individuals who believe we can make a real difference in people's lives and support them throughout their journeys and the difficulties they are experiencing. We have this “I want to change the world” attitude – which is amazing!

However, I think that the best piece of advice I could give is that unfortunately, you can’t help or save everyone… and that’s OK.  Accept early on that no matter what you do, the tools you provide or the encouragement and support you give, people will always make their own choices about their lives and that it is no reflection of you as a professional.

A nursing degree is hard work. It is physically and emotionally demanding, therefore it is important to take care of your own health and wellbeing. Do not feel ashamed to be honest and seek support from friends, family, or university. Pushing through because you feel as though you have to not only puts yourself at risk, but also your patients and the people you are providing care for.  It’s OK to not be OK – just make sure you tell someone!

If you are a parent, please don’t underestimate yourself. Being organised is key! There is so much out there for parents who are undertaking full-time education – access as much as possible!

What’s next for you?

Eating Disorders is a real passion for me which was unexpected considering I originally wanted to work in CAMHS when I first started my degree, therefore I am soon to be transferring to the working-age community mental health team.  Here, I will continue to build on my basics and increase my knowledge and experience with a different variety of patient groups and needs. It provides me with the opportunity to work more closely with people who are suffering with some sort of eating disorder who are unfortunately not able to access specific treatment pathways. I am also hoping to emigrate to Australia in around 3 years’ time and continue my career down under!