Gill Williams

Personal Profile

I began my nursing career working for the NHS as a health care assistant working on what was then continuing care wards supporting older people with dementia. From there, I was seconded to embark on my mental health nurse training. I completed my BSc (with Hons) Mental Health Nurse Training through the UEA.

The course offered me opportunities to experience placements in several service areas, but it was my placement in Child & Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) that really sealed my career path and has been my passion ever since.

Upon achieving my nursing qualification, I returned to working on the continuing care wards before securing employment in an NHS community setting offering brief intensive support to adults with a range of mental health difficulties. Although I really enjoyed the role, an opportunity arose within the CAMH service area where I had been on placement; I applied and was fortunate to secure the role of child & adolescent mental health nurse.

It was there that I was offered countless opportunities to learn from a highly skilled and experienced team. I spent a year working within the family therapy team, specifically with looked after and adopted children and their families/carers. I went on to spend a year working within a young peoples’ psychotherapy group and from there was offered the opportunity to embark on the PG Dip in Working with Groups at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.  This gave me valuable insight into working systemically within families and wider multi-agency working, as well as considering the group dynamics that occur therein.

Subsequent to that, I was offered a further opportunity to enhance our team skill set by embarking on a PG Dip in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which supported my career development, securing me a senior nurse role within the team.

I was at the centre of developing group work within our service line, employing a CBT approach to working with children, young people and their parents/carers in managing presentations associated with anxiety and taking this model out into schools.  

Teaching

Whilst working clinically, I often offered in house teaching to my team as well as other teams within the Trust. In addition to this I would offer training to partner agencies such as social care teams and schools in the local area.

Whilst working in CAMHS I was approached by the UEA and asked to offer teaching to undergraduate mental health nursing students at the UEA as well as supporting on the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) course in the Med School there as an Associate Tutor. A few years later an opportunity presented itself on the BSc Mental Health Nursing course for a permanent lecturer which again I felt privileged to secure.

I currently teach predominantly on the second year UEA BSc nursing programme, as well as being module organiser for the Child & Adolescent Mental Health option module. This module is one of five different modules available to all fields of nursing and given my passion for this subject, is probably my favourite element of my role.