Meet Kaday. A year on from the pandemic, she truly understands the meaning of the phrase "you can't pour from an empty cup." As a mental health clinician facing challenges during and after the pandemic, she has recognised the importance of nurturing mental fitness for both her patients and herself. She takes the balance between social time and work seriously, understanding that being at her best helps her deliver optimal outcomes for her patients.
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Tell us about your journey to becoming a Mental Health Clinician. It's funny to think that I never planned to become a nurse. When I first started, I didn't enjoy it at all - I even fainted when I witnessed blood being drawn from a patient for the first time. However, everything changed when I discovered mental health nursing. It's amazing how listening and talking can have such a profound impact on someone's life or change their path entirely. I aspire to extend this help to cultures that don't address mental health as openly as we do. Therefore, I am currently pursuing my Masters in Psychotherapy and Counselling, with the goal of one day opening my own practice. |
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What does a typical day look like for you?
As a nurse, I am constantly on the move, and my patients keep me occupied. However, nursing is shift work, and it requires me to build my lifestyle around it. It's impossible to have a consistent routine, but this works well for me because I enjoy doing different activities on my unpredictable schedule. After work, I look forward to doing something completely different to balance myself out.
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How do you find balance in life? I always say, "you can't pour from an empty cup," and what I've learned is that to help my patients achieve the best outcomes, I must prioritise my mental health. When I first started working as a registered nurse, I used to take work home with me, but I soon realised that it's a quick path to burnout. Now, I find balance outside of the emergency department by listening to music, dancing, going to the gym and spending time at the beach. I absolutely love the beach! Working in a hospital can be so serious and demanding that I make sure to switch off properly when I'm at home. Sometimes, I even allow myself to be a little silly to balance out the seriousness of my work. |
How do you wind down after a shift?
As a naturally energetic person, I find it difficult to wind down at times. To combat this, I'll listen to calming music or meditate. After a shift, I'm usually exhausted and as soon as I get home I'll go straight to bed. If my roster has been particularly hectic, I might even take a nap on the couch during the day. Once I've rested, I'm ready to go again!
What challenges do you face in your career and how do you overcome them?
COVID-19 presented the world with an unprecedented challenge and, as healthcare professionals, we nurses were at the forefront of the battle. It was undoubtedly the biggest challenge of our lives, and although I love my job, I, like many of my colleagues, found myself questioning why we were running back into those wards each day. However, we managed to pull through, and while I wouldn't say we have overcome COVID-19 completely (given the emergence of long COVID), we have learned to live and adapt to this new reality.
Bed blocking has also been a significant challenge, but we have come up with creative solutions to treat and move patients every day.
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What do you think your superpower is? Well, my secret superpower is my ability to manage my time effectively. Despite the busy and demanding nature of my work as a nurse, I still find time to fit in other important activities such as going to the gym, dancing, studying for my university degree and even filming for TV. Whenever I reflect on my schedule, I'm amazed at how I'm able to accomplish so much in a day. It's like I have 25 hours instead of 24! |
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Thank you, Kaday, for sharing your unique, heart-warming story with us.
In celebration of World Health Worker Week, NNT is proud to present a very special edition of our Features from the Frontline series. Join influential faces from across the industry as they share their journeys, challenges and words of wisdom with you.
