Story Series: Rawle Ragoobar
2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, a time to reflect on the skills, commitment and expert clinical care that nurses and midwives bring, and the impact they make on the lives of so many. Here Rawle Ragoobar, Deputy Lead in the Staff Support Team for Corporate Psychology & Psychotherapy, talks about his nursing career.
"My name is Rawle Ragoobar and I am originally from a little fishing village called Erin on the south coast of Trinidad. I am mixed, mainly Indo and Afro Trinidadian with a little bit of French and Spanish in there somewhere. I came to the UK in 1998 and my original plan was to stay for two years then move back to my warm tropical beach in Trinidad…… I’m still here.
"To be honest, I was never really interested in becoming a nurse. I think I was influenced over time by my family. My aunts and uncle moved to the UK in the late sixties/early seventies and all of them joined the NHS, working as midwives and mental health nurses. My older brother also moved to the UK a few years before me and is also a mental health nurse. The more time I spent with them and listening to some of their conversations the more curious I became about mental health nursing.
"Almost two years after being here I decided to apply to do the Mental Health Nurse Training. I started in September 2000 and qualified in 2003.
"I joined SLaM in September 2003, and I have worked in several different roles over the years - Early Intervention (LEO Unit), Psychiatric Intensive Care Services and a Promoting Safe and Therapeutic (PSTS in-house) tutor, from qualifying, Charge Nurse, Practice Development Nurse to Ward Manager.
"Now, I work in Corporate Psychology & Psychotherapy as the Deputy Lead in the Staff Support team. It’s a role that was previously occupied by a psychologist and one that initially I thought, as a nurse, I was not qualified or capable of doing. However, I soon realised I was capable, competent and brought a lot to the team with my previous nursing knowledge and experiences. I am the only nurse in my team.
"My key responsibilities include supporting staff across the organisation through coordinating and facilitating various reflective spaces such as Critical Incident Staff Support (CISS) sessions, Schwartz Rounds and Reflective Practice. I am also involved in supporting other staff support projects.
"In 2019 I was elected as Staff Governor. I am one of the few BAME staff and nurse on the Council which is made up of approximately thirty-five governors. Our main role is to hold the Non-Executive Directors to account.
"In addition to working in various roles over the years I was also able to develop my skills and knowledge by completing several training programmes offered at the Trust. These include the Royal College of Nurses Leadership Programme, coaching, teaching, mentorship, Quality Improvement and various types of psychological interventions including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in the Workplace, these are just a few. I have also developed and delivered training and presented at national and international conferences.
"Through all the experience and training SLaM has given me I was able to complete several service improvement projects. The main one being ‘Shift Reflection’ which is a psychological intervention, again something that historically would have been led by someone with a more psychological background. The ‘Shift Reflection’ model was created and developed by myself with the support of my manager and the LEO Unit Team that I was working with at the time. It’s a model created right here in SLaM from bottom up. In March 2020 the first paper on the Shift Reflection model was published by the Royal College of Nursing Journal for Mental Health Practice. This is something I am very proud of and did not think I would have achieved as a nurse.
"I have been a mental health nurse at SLaM for just over 17 years. I have had the privilege of working across the Trust, meeting and working with staff, service users and carers from different disciplines, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, learning from their experiences to improve the services we provide to those who use and work within them.
"Although there are improvements needed in certain areas, SLaM has given me opportunities to develop as a nurse, clinician and as a person. I have been supported and encouraged during times when I doubted myself. I have been able to push myself, achieve things and tap into areas I never thought I was qualified for.
"I am very grateful to my colleagues and friends in SLaM who have supported and continue to support me on my journey.
"I don’t think I’ve done too bad for a guy from a little fishing village :)"
