‘I had to be sectioned’: the nurse who became the patient

Rachel Davis’s experience as a former patient in an inpatient setting is informing her role as a trust’s peer support lead for other healthcare professionals

• The writer’s experience of being sectioned under the Mental Health Act (1983) is now informing her role as peer support

• Vicarious trauma is described as a process of change resulting from empathetic engagement with trauma survivors when caring for them

• Symptoms of vicarious trauma include stress, burnout and invasive thoughts about patients’ situations outside of work

A mental health career felt like the obvious choice when I was deciding on which branch