Brian Cavanagh

Full name: Mr Brian Cavanagh

Place of work: Urgent Care North Manchester General Hospital site

Job title: Operational Manager for Crisis Café, Homebased Treatment Team & Mental Health Liaison Team.

Brian Cavanagh

Urgent Care North Manchester General Hospital site

Provide an outline of your career Journey to date: (Where did your career start and how did you get to where you are now?)

I left school and went straight into a YTS scheme which involved working in a Nursing Home, Pre-School children’s group and a respite home for people with learning disabilities. It was whilst in the last placement that I came across people who had a diagnoses of Mental Health as every Thursday day-time we provided respite to people of all ages who had MH.

This then inspired me to joining a nursing agency so I could get work at the local hospital which had a MH ward which back then was the NHS and general hospitals had MH wards.

I started off as a Nursing Assistant, working my way up to the role of Support Worker within the community.

During my time working in health, I witnessed the transformation of MH from being in a general medical setting to breaking away to become standalone MH NHS Trusts.

The last/previous trust I worked at seen my potential and asked me if I wanted to do my nurse training as part of a secondment opportunity. I took up that offer and I can say it was one of the best experiences qualifying as a state registered nurse in MH.

Once qualified I worked in In-patient acute wards, moving into the community as a CPN, then working for the Homeless Outreach Team.

From this I took up a post as a senior nurse practitioner within the Mental Health Liaison Team, working my way up to become the team manager and three years ago I applied for the post of Operational Manager of Urgent Care as a secondment, which following a second interview I was successful at retaining the post permanently.

Whilst working within the Mental Health Liaison as a lone worker Core 24 came into play and this allowed MH Services within Urgent Care/Acute hospital sites to extend the services which also included the expansion of the workforce, at North MHLT this meant from lone working to a team of 34 staff of different roles as well as the service going from assessing/signposting people aged 16 – 65 years to becoming an ageless service which meant taking over the role of CAMHS to providing placement advice for older adults. 

What inspired you to become a mental health nurse?

As I have said in the beginning of my career in a caring capacity, my first experience of mental health was providing help and support to people once a week, which lead me to wanting to know more and offer more support than I was.

I was lucky in being chosen to further my career by becoming a qualified nurse in MH. This was due to me wanting to understand MH and help those who were in crisis and helping to support people through my knowledge and understanding.

What are you most passionate about in mental health nursing? (What values and principles guide your approach to your work and how do you put these into practice?)

For me the understanding that any one of us can and often do go through some crisis/MH in our lifetime and that at some point we all need some help/support from others and that this help should be around supporting others in anyway we can however small, support is support and it’s that makes me feel passionate about my role and that whatever little help I can give to another even if it’s listening.

My values are not just in the Trusts Values, or the Values of being a qualified practitioner, but values I built up through my career pathway and learning from others.

About your role 

Please provide a summary outline of your current role: (Why is your role important? Is your role a new or innovative role in mental health nursing? What impact does your role have?)

My role is not new, though the services have expanded and new services/roles have become part of the advancing nursing pathway.

My role is to support the three team managers that help make-up the North Urgent Care division, and feedback to the senior management structure. This role also involves building relationships with the Acute Trust as well as other providers Statutory and Non-Statutory Services.

What are the key priorities for your role?

To help support the staff in least restrictive options, so the Service Users make the right choices and feel supported. 

What do you like most about your role?

The positive feedback from colleagues both in Trust and outside our organisation. Feeling that I/We have done something today to help somebody in crisis.

What have you achieved in your current role?

I feel personally that I have reached a point where I am a senior manager, through have retained the ability to engage with Service Users to help aid their support/recovery.

 What do you hope to achieve in your current role?

Passing on my knowledge, way of working and expansion of the services so others can benefit from the help and support.

Inspiring others

Why should mental health nursing be considered as a career option?

You are helping others through your own hard work and support. I feel by helping others also helps you grow as a person and understand people.

What advice would you offer mental health nurses at the start of their career?

To embrace it, relax and remember each day you are helping others.

How do you maintain your health and wellbeing, achieve a good work life balance, and develop resilience?

I believe a good work life balance is important and the last question is my mantra!

What advice you would give to someone thinking of taking a similar career path as you?

It can be hard at times, and you may feel sadness by others loss, but remember you have chosen a pathway to help others which is very fulfilling.

Are there any useful websites/books/podcasts/videos that you would advise mental health nurses to refer to?

I think listening to others/colleague’s experiences is a very useful way of learning.

What is your favourite quote and how does this relate to you as a mental health nurse?

I have two and my friends quote me on these ‘What will be will be’ and ‘It’s nice to be nice’.

When interacting with others it is always Nice to be nice.

Have you been nominated for or won any awards? 

Only through our own local ‘Perfect Week’ nominations which was nice to receive and a boost to all the staff that helped facilitate the Perfect Week