Together we can - Katie Phelps | Discover Cardiff University

“I think what makes me most proud is the kindness of everyone on my course. They’re really supportive, and no one gets left behind.”

Katie Phelps (BSc)

Mental Health Nursing

“My name is Katie, and I’m a student mental health nurse at Cardiff University.”

How has your time at Cardiff shaped you?

Cardiff has such a strong community. I think what makes me most proud is the kindness of everyone on my course. They’re really supportive, and no one gets left behind. And truly, it doesn’t matter what course people are on – if you get speaking with them, they’re always ready to lend you their support. And it’s really taught me to take kindness into every situation. We also have such good facilities and opportuniities here. We have so many simulation suites, which we could use to record ourselves having conversations and practise how we’d approach a situation with patients in the real world. It’s really prepared me for the future and for my role as a mental health nurse.

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What inspired you to study nursing?

In 2019, I started working at the CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) unit for inpatients, with 12 to 18 year olds. I was working in the kitchen, actually, when I first started, but then became a support worker and progressed really quickly. My experience in the unit and with the nurses that I worked with had a real impact on me, and I decided that I wanted to become a nurse.

Why mental health nursing, in particular?

It’s a global issue. It’s not just something that happens to a couple of people, it affects everyone. I did a study on suicide prevention in young people in a module last year, and the statistics that I came across were staggering, and it’s so worrying that it happens all around the world and affects so many people. If I could just make a difference in one person’s day, it’d mean the world to me.

What are your plans after completing your degree?

I qualify in November and plan to get a job, get my preceptorship and progress up the bands in the NHS. I lived in Australia for a couple of years prior to working in mental health, so the ultimate goal would be to learn more and gain experience here in the UK, and then take some of that expertise and skill and bring it to the wider world.

How do you feel about the idea that ‘together, we can’ make a difference?

I think together, we can improve the wellbeing and dignity of patients everywhere. The world needs more kindness and understanding. If we can all show more compassion, together, we can change the face of mental health provision across the world.

“If I could just make a difference in one person’s day, it’d mean the world to me.”

“The world needs more kindness and understanding. If we can all show more compassion, together, we can change the face of mental health provision across the world.”

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