Story Series: Rebekah King, Interim Ward Manager on Tony Hillis Unit
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.
With this in mind, we're interviewing some of the nurses at SLaM to showcase the wide variety of nursing roles. Here we meet Rebekah King, Interim Ward Manager on Tony Hillis Unit, and find out about her role:
I trained as a nurse at SLaM and have been working here since 2012. I worked on Eden Ward, a men’s psychiatric intensive care unit, for six years before transferring to the Tony Hillis Unit at Lambeth Hospital. Since May 2020 I have been Interim Ward Manager. Tony Hillis Unit is a long-term rehabilitation ward. Our patients have complex issues, often with physical health as well as mental health, and they struggle to live in the community. They can be on the ward for months or years, so we get to know them and their families well.
I have personal experience of mental health issues, and quite a few of my family members have a mental illness. I thought if I learned to be a mental health professional I would have a lot to contribute. I went into mental health nursing to try and make a little difference to someone’s life.
In my role, every day is different. As a ward manager you work with patients, families and staff. You look at ways to develop and improve the unit, working with the Trust senior management and other services. There is lots of variety and you’re always learning. It’s a close-knit, friendly team at Lambeth Hospital. My day involves finding out how the patients are doing and if there are any clinical issues or issues with the ward environment. One of the challenges is getting support for patients after they leave the ward. Some of them have autism or a disability. Many of them need specialist care. We work with community teams to find out where patients can go that will meet their needs.
Covid-19 has been very challenging. I’m so proud of how patients and staff have managed. It was remarkable how the ward rallied together and supported each other. I was trying to balance the care of my patients as well as the care of the staff - managing their anxieties and my own anxiety. Our ward was the first at SLaM to have a patient diagnosed with Covid-19 and in a way we became the blueprint of how to manage these patients. I am proud that our team was nominated in the Covid-19 SLaM STAR Awards. We lost our longest residential patient to Covid-19. Another patient almost died in my arms. He was holding my hand saying “I don’t want to die”. It was horrible but thankfully he recovered and returned to Tony Hillis Unit after hospital treatment.
It’s an exciting and crazy time – with Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter – and all of these poignant changes that are happening. What I would say as a black nurse is that you need to be integral to who you are. It’s about feeling equal – that your voice is heard and you have value. If you’ve got any ideas, or you feel like there’s something people can learn from, now’s the time to speak. Chances are your voice will be heard more now than it ever has been before.
We have important things to say. I know it’s difficult to know what to say, how to say it and who to say it to. It’s important that we speak up and empower each other to talk. I encourage people in my team to speak up. We all should be given opportunities to have our voices heard. Leadership courses, coaching and mentoring are so important for staff at all levels.
Nursing is not an easy job and sometimes it’s hard to switch off. I am a mother to four children (aged 2–19) which also keeps me busy. In my spare time, I like to see friends and family. I also catch up on sleep, relax and watch TV.
If you go into nursing, go into it because it’s something you’re passionate about. You need to really care about people and want to make a difference.
