Tom Carroll

Prior and alongside my academic studies, I have worked as a healthcare worker in a medium secure forensic environment for over 4 years, being based on the same female ward for the latter 3 years of this. This has given me essential experience of working with service users on a daily basis.

As the only female ward at Stockton Hall Hospital, I worked with women with varying diagnosis, including ASD, schizophrenia and personality disorder. This enabled me to develop my confidence and communication skills as each individual service user required differing levels of input and support. I was able to develop strong therapeutic relationships with these people which meant I could provide support during 1:1’s when they were struggling but also as they progressed through treatment and needed reassurance surrounding the anxieties of moving on.

Prior to working on the female ward, I began on a male personality disorder ward. This gave me a strong foundation to develop my relational security and ensure appropriate boundaries were maintained. Here I was able to gain confidence in working alongside service users, develop inter-professional relationships and build rapport to help optimise patient care, all of which I was able to take with me as I began working with other patient groups.

For the past year of my time as a healthcare worker, I have been the security lead on the ward I am based on. This entailed training new staff on all security procedures and the role of being the security nurse on shift, including how to manage sharps access, environmental and relational security and training staff on the anti-barricade system in place on the ward. Alongside this, I was responsible for ensuring documentation was up to date and carried out weekly audits to identify any discrepancies.

In addition to this, I have undergone various training courses in order to be able to practice safely. These include annual handcuff training programmes and more recently, soft belt restraint training. Being handcuff trained has enabled me to support on escorts when necessary, including hospital, dentist and court leaves.

Whilst at university, I have been able to build on the foundation I developed working in a ward environment. I have experienced a vast array of placements, including CMHT, Crisis & IHTT and acute wards This has allowed me to work outside of my comfort zone and develop my risk assessment skills, away from a secure controlled environment.

Working in healthcare prior to undertaking my nurse training was monumental in developing my confidence and passion for working in mental health. By having first hand experience in a ward environment, I have honed attributes I believe are essential for working as a nurse such as working under pressure, multi-tasking , flexibility and team building and communication. This has extended to my nurse training and has given me an increased confidence in undertaking the demands required of my studies.

Now that I am nearing the end of my degree, I would like to be able to develop my newfound skills further and would like to do so in an environment where I have developed my passion for mental healthcare.

• Guitar
• Film
• Exercise & Fitness
• Literature

Security Lead for the ward I am currently based on.