Nurse discovers renewed sense of purpose in neuropsychiatric rehabilitation

A nurse who began her career supporting young people in Nigeria has described how her journey to the UK and experience across specialist healthcare settings ultimately led her to Cygnet Paddocks, where she says she has found the “missing piece” of her nursing career.

For Oluwatobi Olaojoyetan, known as Tobi, nursing has always been more than a profession.

Now a ward manager at Cygnet Health Care service, Cygnet Paddocks, a specialist neuropsychiatric rehabilitation service for men living with acquired brain injuries and neurological conditions, Tobi says her current role has brought together everything she has learned throughout her career and given her a renewed sense of purpose.

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Looking back, she said she can see how each stage of her journey prepared her for the role she has today, even when she did not realise it at the time.

Tobi began her nursing career in Nigeria, working as a psychiatric nurse within a military secondary school environment. There, she supported young people with their physical, emotional and mental health needs.

It was an experience that introduced her to the profound difference that effective and compassionate mental health care can make to an individual’s life.

Tobi said: “Even then, nursing felt like more than a profession; it felt like a calling.”

In 2019, Tobi relocated to the UK and embraced the opportunity to develop her career within a new healthcare system.

Over the following years, she gained experience across a diverse range of specialist services, working with young people with eating disorders and autism, supporting people with complex mental health needs, and developing her experience within neurological and rehabilitation settings.

For Tobi, this breadth of experience was invaluable, allowing her to develop not only her clinical knowledge and skills but also the resilience, emotional intelligence and understanding required to support people with complex and often changing needs.

As her experience grew, so did her responsibilities. She progressed into leadership roles, mentored fellow nurses and supported internationally educated colleagues as they developed their own careers in the UK.

She also continued to invest in her own professional development, continually seeking opportunities to expand her knowledge and become a better nurse and leader.

Yet, despite the progression she was making in her career, Tobi said:  “I often felt there was still something more I was searching for, something I could not quite put into words.”

That changed when she discovered Cygnet Paddocks. Joining the specialist neuropsychiatric rehabilitation service felt different from the outset.

Cygnet Paddocks supports men affected by acquired brain injuries and neurological conditions, providing specialist rehabilitation within a setting designed around individual needs and recovery.

For Tobi, it was an environment where the different strands of her nursing career finally came together.

She said: “It was as though all the experiences, challenges and lessons from my career suddenly came together.

“The compassion, resilience, emotional intelligence and leadership skills I had spent years developing finally found the environment where they could flourish.

“The best way I can describe it is that it felt like finding the missing piece of a puzzle.

“For the first time in my career, I felt completely aligned with my purpose as a nurse. There was almost something spiritual about the experience. A deep sense that I was exactly where I was meant to be.”

Tobi says it is the nature of neuropsychiatric rehabilitation, and the opportunity to support people over the course of their rehabilitation journey, that has made such a strong impression on her.

Rather than focusing solely on an individual’s immediate needs, rehabilitation can involve working patiently alongside someone as they develop skills, regain confidence and work towards greater independence.

For Tobi, being part of that process is particularly rewarding.

“What has surprised me most is discovering that I have more to give than I ever realised,” she said.

“Supporting people through their rehabilitation journey feels natural, almost second nature.

“Every day, I witness courage, determination and progress. Every day, I see the difference that hope, patience and person-centred care can make.

“Rather than feeling drained by the responsibility, I feel energised by it,” she added.

Her experience at Cygnet Paddocks has also reinforced Tobi’s commitment to lifelong learning.

She is currently undertaking an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice, continuing to develop her clinical expertise alongside her leadership responsibilities.

She said: “This is driven not by a desire for achievement alone, but by a commitment to continually grow, serve others better, and provide the highest standard of care to the people entrusted to me.”

Her journey has also given her an appreciation of the value of bringing different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives into healthcare.

From beginning her career in Nigeria to developing her practice across a range of UK specialist services, Tobi has built a career shaped by continual learning and a willingness to embrace new challenges.

Today, she is able to draw on those experiences in her role as a Ward Manager, supporting her colleagues while helping to create an environment in which the people receiving rehabilitation can make progress at their own pace.

Reflecting on her career, Tobi is grateful for the challenges and opportunities that have shaped her. Her journey has taken her from supporting young people in a Nigerian military secondary school to working within specialist mental health, neurological and rehabilitation services in the UK.

Each experience, she believes, has played a part in bringing her to Cygnet Paddocks.

“When I reflect on my journey, from Nigeria to the UK, from school nursing to specialist mental health and neuropsychiatric rehabilitation, I am grateful for every challenge, every lesson and every opportunity. Each one led me here.”

For Tobi, being a nurse at Cygnet Paddocks is about more than holding a leadership position. It is about finally finding a setting in which her skills, experience and personal sense of purpose feel completely aligned.

She said: “Cygnet Paddocks has given me more than a role; it has given me a profound sense of fulfilment in my calling as a nurse.

“In finding this service, I found a part of myself that had been searching for expression throughout my career. At Cygnet Paddocks, I have found more than a workplace

“I have found purpose, fulfilment and a place where I can truly be the nurse I was always meant to be.”

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