What nursing means to me: Whitney Johnson

It can be hard to capture the more intangible work nurses do – being with someone, understanding them, that human aspect. Nurses are brilliant at tasks and processes, but it is important not to minimise what we do with relationship building. 

There was a young person I worked with in our Child and Youth Mental Health service years ago who had experienced significant trauma, and was incredibly vulnerable to extreme distress as a result.  

When they came to us it was really difficult for them to trust us and for them to work with us.  I was really committed to try to understand this person, and to try to work with them the best that we could, caring for them within their needs. We worked with them for a long time, a couple of years.  

I heard from this young person not long ago and they are now living independently, and have some really great, supportive relationships in their life. They are sober, which had been a goal for them for a long time, and they are also now supporting other young people that experience mental health difficulties,  providing advocacy for them.  

They said they were really grateful for the time we had spent together and had felt understood, and would remember us for the rest of their life. They had felt heard and seen in one of the worst periods of their lives. It was huge, and was one of those goosebumps moments where we really made a difference for someone.

Deputy Director of Nursing, Alfred Mental and Addiction Health Whitney Johnson: "I’m so proud to be a part of such a selfless profession." 

Being a nurse is part of my identity. If you ask me about myself, I will tell you that I’m a mother, and that I’m a nurse.  I’m so proud to be a part of such a selfless profession.  

It’s a real privilege to work with people during their most painful or hardest times in their life. People put a lot of trust in us. I’m incredibly proud to be someone that people see in that light.