Awareness day helps people open up about mental health

A difficult subject to talk about became the conversation piece of Northampton yesterday, during a University-backed event that helped someone within minutes of starting.

Mental Health (MH) Nurses Day in Northampton was organised by the University, Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (NHFT), St Andrew’s Healthcare and hosts The Grosvenor Shopping Centre.

Staff from all health partners as well as University students were on hand to talk about Mental Health Nursing what they do, why they you love being an MH Nurse and how valuable the role is.

That value was seen within minutes of the event starting. A member of the public who was concerned about their mental health spoke with one of the NHFT nurses present.

The nurse, recognising they needed help, booked them an appointment there and then to visit the trust’s ‘Crisis Café’ later the same day.

Mental Health Nurse Lauren talks about why her profession is important. Brandon Lazarus provided sign language on the day.

The event was led by the Royal College of Nursing’s Mental Health Nursing Forum. Following a main launch in Edinburgh there were regional and local celebration events across the UK.

Emma Dillon, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at University of Northampton said: “At the University, we are committed to helping people have that all important first conversation about mental health, recently rolling out Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to all of our nursing students, as well as providing MHFA training for members of staff.

“Today was a huge success as our students and partners from NHFT and St Andrew’s Healthcare were out in force having that first chat about MH – right from the start of the day, they were helping people receive support that is on their doorstep but they didn’t know about.

“We can’t say thank you enough, but many thanks to the Grosvenor Centre for giving us the space and helping out with on the day logistics.”

Find out more about Mental Health Nursing at the University of Northampton.