Welcome to the launch of my new mental health blog and website! Check out for my first blog, “About me” to know more about me and my passions. My name is Anitha Sara D’souza (also known as Menezes) and I am so excited to share with you MORE of the latest trends in mental health, nursing, leadership and strategical planning. My mind often runs overtime and the amount of ideas, how-to’s and inspiration whirling around in my head is ready to pop out and burst. In my initial post ‘About me’ you will learn why I created this blog, what inspires me and keeps me going, and my overall experience of working in mental health sector as a registered nurse for about 2 decades.
Currently I work in an forensic in-patient setting, and love every bit of my amazing job. Nursing has always given me immense joy and satisfaction, having been able to empathize with the embarrassment, frustration, stigma, fear, anxiety and even self-loathing that often accompanies mental illness.
I keep saying every now and then; my job is never boring; each day as I enter my unit I do not know what awaits me there; pure bliss; and on occasion, risk.. My job requires immense training in self-defense and de-escalation strategies. On days it can be emotionally and mentally draining; as I deal with the most difficult and complex personalities , with little or no appreciation in return. As a nurse, no matter how fulfilling the job, we often get burnt out. Poor staffing ratios, imbalance between work and family life, little or no support from the management has often led to high nurse turnover nationwide.
I firmly believe there is always something that we could all do, to make a difference. To bring back the passion in this highly satisfying yet exhausting profession.
Having graduated in nursing leadership and administration opened up my world to a whole lot of possibilities. I knew there was a lot that can be accomplished in nursing practice. Struggles were many, hurdles and obstacles kept been thrown at my way! But I knew if I had to make a difference, I couldn’t just sit and wait for the opportunity to knock. I had to build my own doors. Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of Nursing once said; “ I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results.” This blog is my gift to the nursing community. No matter where you stand in life, whether you are a student nurse or a veteran, I hope there is always something to take back from here.
Photo by Elina Krima from Pexels
My greatest inspiration, my backbone has been my family, my wonderful husband and three adorable children. Together as a family, we have lived in three different countries and traveled to about 26 of them, each journey enabling us to visit different places, meet people of different cultures, learn diverse traditions and broaden our horizons.
While you are here; I would love for you all to drop me a line. I look forward to interacting with you all.
Recent Comments