Hi there! I’m Lori, I’m 39, and I started the Open University Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship in Mental Health Nursing in September 2018.
If you had told me four years ago that I would be retraining as a Mental Health Nurse I wouldn’t have believed you! At that point I was still struggling and stressing over a PhD (in Postcolonial Literature), and, with a BA and an MA in this area behind me, I thought that there was no way I would ever end up doing anything else.
It was a lot of luck, and the need for a bit of part-time work, that first brought me into the CMHT where I am now based – initially for 10 days, on the Trust Bank, and as an Administrative Assistant. I instantly loved it: so many brilliant people all in one space, all working together, and all doing such constructive, fascinating work! I felt then I would love to be able to work there more permanently, but couldn’t see how that would happen. I was incredibly lucky in getting the full support of my manager and my team, and being given the chance to work first as an STR (Support, Time and Recovery) Worker and then to apply for the OU Apprenticeship.
I can honestly say I’ve never felt happier of more fulfilled in my work than I do now! I get to work with and learn from so many amazing, admirable people on a day-to-day basis: staff and service-users alike. And the work for me is endlessly fascinating: it is always different and I never get tired of it. I am hugely grateful to the Open University and the Trust for making it possible for me to retrain in this way: going back to University full-time would have been very difficult for me, having spent such a long time studying already, but also financially unviable.
Future-wise: For now, I am just enjoying being able to soak up as much learning and experience as I can. I am very thankful to be able to train in the practice-based way that the RNDA allows, as it is such a rich and interesting way to learn, and, for me perfectly complimented by the OU support and online work. And while it seems a long way off at the moment, I am looking forward to the day when I’ll (hopefully) be able to take all the learning from the Apprenticeship with me and start working as a fully qualified nurse in my CMHT.
