St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) shares a new podcast exploring what it really means to be a mental health nurse today.
Everyone has the right to live a mentally healthy life and to feel empowered to achieve whatever they’re capable of. And when someone needs a little help to get to that point, psychiatric nurses are there to help.
In our new Mental Health Conversations podcast, we take you inside the doors of SPMHS, meeting nurses from right across our services, as well as some of our service users who have spent time in their care.
Together, we step inside the world of a mental health service, exploring the rewards and challenges of the role of a mental health nurse, the powerful impact that nurses can make in people’s lives, and where psychiatric nursing is going in the future.
Made by nurses, for nurses, the series is hosted by Shane Kirwan and Aoife Farrington of our Nursing Department, and was inspired by an idea from Evelina Dudenaite, a staff nurse who won our Caroline Doyle Nurse Innovation Idea of the Year Award in 2023.
Here, you’ll find each episode of the series, along with show notes and links. The podcast is available to listen on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
Whether you're a seasoned nurse, a nursing student, or an advocate for mental health and human rights, Mental Health Conversations is here to inform, inspire and empower us and to celebrate mental health nursing as a job and vocation that plays such a critical role in society.
Episode one: A day in the life of a mental health nurse
The role of the mental health nurse involves many things, but, at the core, it’s all about helping people to get better. In this very first episode of Mental Health Conversations, Clinical Nurse Manager Jenny Judge describes the day-to-day aspects of her job, what she finds rewarding about her role, and the positive impact that she hopes to have on the people in her care.
We hear a powerful story from Jude McCarthy, one of our former service users, about her time in SPMHS – what led to her admission, the good parts and the challenges, and the critical role that nurses played in her experience, and, ultimately, in her recovery.
And host Shane Kirwan takes us on a tour of St Patrick’s University Hospital, where we learn about the service user journey, day-to-day life on the wards, and some of the recreational activities available for our service users to enjoy.
Listen to episode one in the player below, or tune in on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
