Nicky Lambert - RMN / Assoc Prof of Mental Health

Finding your people… finding your purpose!

I was going to be a history teacher but went traveling first and people kept saying to me - ‘you’re a mental health nurse aren’t you’. I didn’t know what they were talking about but and in the end I looked into it. I’m from a family of general nurses and doctors and that wasn’t something that interested me but when I looked into the mental health field something just clicked and I knew that I was absolutely a mental health nurse – that identity goes through me like a stick of rock … I had found my ‘tribe’.

Nicky Lambert

RMN / Assoc Prof of Mental Health
Middlesex University.

I like being with people and feel privileged to work with those experiencing mental distress. Feeling the pain of living sometimes and trying to alleviate that distress for others is the most human of experiences, and it links us all together. Being able to share that endeavour with other mental health nurses and coproducing care with experts by experience and other colleagues is something that I have been doing for over 20 years. I still find it emotionally satisfying, and seeing people recover and thrive is as rewarding to me as it was on day one.

Margaret Mead said that a healed femur was the first sign of civilization. She explained that in the wild if you break your leg, you die. You can’t protect yourself or get food or shelter, but a healed femur is evidence that someone cared for the person who was hurt until they recovered. Mead said that helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts. When I saw that life was much harder for some people that others, I wanted to do something about it and mental health nursing has given me that opportunity.

I feel strongly that people in mental distress are often treated unfairly and I am glad to be in a position where I can spend time with others and help them to be heard. Often it is the small things that end up making the big differences for individuals and the way you listen and connect therapeutically is still the one of the most effective tools to support recovery.

A lot of the work done by mental health nurses is to reduce the impacts of trauma, poverty, loneliness, racism and other social ills. It can feel like these enormous problems are beyond us but standing with your colleagues and being with people in their dark times is a compassionate and practical response.

There is still so much to be done to make sure everyone gets access to the best care that we can offer and we can all help to make society a place that support wellbeing rather than damaging the most vulnerable. I am proud to see nurses, especially mental health nurses speaking up and leading change.