workforce
New nurse on the beat
Mental health nurse Sam Johnston . Picture : Supplied .
The nurses swapping wards for police stations .
By Conor Burke
Paula ’ s regular shift is 2pm to 10pm ,
she tells me . It ’ s only ten past 2 and today a police officer has already come to her desk to fill her in on a domestic violence-related incident with mental health implications .
The incident involved a female health worker who police believe is suicidal , which is why the officer comes her way . This is a regular day for Paula O ’ Brien , who is one of the 36 specialist mental health nurses deployed across NSW and embedded in police stations as part of the expanded PACER program .
The program was announced in June last year by the Berejiklian state government after positive results from a pilot program that saw a 15 per cent reduction in mental health cases dealt with by police in some areas and a reduction in hospital presentations due to mental health issues by 9 per cent – according to NSW Police .
Paula has a spot in the Gosford Police Station on the NSW Central Coast and she thinks the police are certainly feeling the benefits of her expertise already , although it keeps her busy . The mental health team were six weeks into their work at Gosford when I spoke to Paula , and an average shift sees at least two or three calls . And the close relationship with police has given her a new insight into the other side of mental health care .
“ Well , between corridor chats and then call outs … with my first Saturday night , I had five calls , which was ridiculous . But two or three a night , yes . And then on top of that lots of corridor chats and then meetings with people that present to Triple 0 often ,” she says .
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“ The police do an incredible job . They do so much more than I was aware of in terms of after hours , taking care of people with mental illness and very vulnerable people . We never knew about that . We never knew that some of our chronic clients would be calling the police three or four times a week because we never had that open communication .”
That communication and relationship with police is key for Sam Johnston too . I catch her on her day off ; she ’ s off to brunch with the family . And I can see how she can quickly bond with strangers . We joke about some shared misconceptions and stereotypes about our homelands ( Scotland for her , Ireland for me ) but she also uses that to her advantage .
“ I ’ ll ‘ ethnic it up ’ a bit to incite a reaction . After being in nursing for 30 years you just kind of know how to pick your audience . And I find that you can use it in a selfdeprecating way ,” she says of her soft Scottish lilt .
“ You can get patients on your side because of the accent . They ’ ll maybe want to talk to me rather than an Australian sounding person . It ’ s quite handy at times .
“ It ’ s has been my ticket to actually get in with some of the senior police officers , because our station officer has a Scottish heritage ... And that ’ s actually paid in dividends ; it ’ s kind of got him on one our side a bit . So , it ’ s has been very helpful .”
Sam is one of the mental health nurses embedded in Wyong Police Station , about 30 minutes north of Gosford , still on the Central Coast . And like any other work environment it took a while for the new people to settle in . Sam says it was challenging at first , and that perhaps there was a perception that the nursing staff were there to spy on the police officers or to critique the way they dealt with mental health .
“ But I think once they realised the value of having mental health clinicians that they could call on between the hours of 2pm and 10pm , it ’ s been very helpful for them . It ’ s taken away some of the pressure ,” she says .
“ They ’ re extremely busy . We can hear the jobs going down all the time . And on the surface , it looks like they ’ re not paying attention to the radio which goes constantly from a speaker in the ceiling above them .
“ And then there ’ ll be a phrase or a word that will come over the radio ; they stop doing everything and they just run . And they ’ re out that door in a matter of moments . The room will clear , and it actually leaves you with goosebumps . They are very much attuned to what ’ s going on around them even though , on the surface , it doesn ’ t look like it . They do a fantastic job .”
Much like Paula , Sam ’ s day is chock full . Most days she doesn ’ t have time to put her bag down before the officers have questions for her . “ It ’ s like they ’ re waiting for you to come in ,” she says .
Even if she doesn ’ t physically leave the station , Sam and her team will have meetings and field multiple calls from different officers about real time issues .
Police Minister David Elliott said in June that police in NSW currently deal with mental health-related incidents 1000 times a week and attended 55,000 incidents in 2019 . Elliot said that the time an officer dealt with a case involving mental health was reduced by 45 minutes with the pilot program , so an expansion of the program “ makes good economic sense ”.
Having people like Paula and Sam around frees officers up to do other things and , more than anything , can often deescalate scary situations for people when they are at their most vulnerable .