A woman who decided to retrain as a mental health nurse after her own battle with depression has created a wellbeing pack to help others in a similar situation, which is now being rolled out by the NHS.
Leanne Howlett’s career change saw her leave her job as a solicitor after suffering from postnatal depression. The care she received inspired her to go into mental health nursing and she is now in her third year of her course at Coventry University.
While on placement with RISE – Coventry and Warwickshire’s specialist mental health service for children and young people – Leanne saw an opportunity to help patients that were being discharged and developed a pack of resources that has earned her a nomination for the RCN’s Student Nurse of the Year.
She said: “I very quickly realised how difficult a time that discharge was for the patients, how unsettled it made them feel, and how the presentation of change would make them start to display symptoms of risk, anxiety and depression.”
This led to Leanne creating a wellbeing pack that is now being handed to patients within RISE when they are discharged from their care.
The pack combines a mixture of the skills the patients have learned, reassures them about being discharged and empowers them to understand that they are ready for it and that they are the ones who have done all the work.
It includes information on sleep hygiene skills, grounding techniques, coping strategies and summarises everything they have learned over their time with RISE.
Talking about her own experience of being discharged from perinatal mental health services, Leanne, from Warwick, said: “I remember how scary a time it was and even though I knew I was well enough and I was ready to be discharged, I was worried about being on my own and what was next because I wanted that security blanket of the health practitioner there.”
Jo Durham, nursing lead on the leadership and management module, said: “What was really interesting was how Leanne went out to practice and utilised what she had learnt on this module and created a discharge pack for the RISE team whilst on placement.
“This was quite unusual because she didn’t just see a need for change or a gap in patient care but she did something to support it.
“Seeing that theory put into practice is what you hope for on these modules. You really hope that students take that learning and put it into action.”
RISE lead nurse Nicola Evans, from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT), said: “The RISE Discharge Wellbeing Pack will transform daily nursing practice. It will support in celebrating the progress and futures of the children and young people who have accessed our service.
“On behalf of RISE and CWPT, I would like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you for the difference it has, and will continue to make, in the lives of so many young people.”
Leanne’s work has seen her shortlisted as a finalist for the RCN’s Student Nurse of the Year award, which she was nominated for by the RISE team.
Leanne added: “I’m so honoured to have been shortlisted for student nurse of the year and it feels like a really wonderful way to end to my time as a student nurse.
“I really hope I can inspire other students to know that they can make a difference.”
