Call for more mental health nurses in Devon and Cornwall

The NHS wants to attract more people into nursing

A call is being made for more people to become learning disability and mental health nurses in the South West.

A campaign hopes to find people who are "compassionate, have great communication skills and really want to make a difference".

NHS England South West and Health Education England South West are running the campaign.

A report from MPs in July found the NHS in England was short of more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.

Natasha Teague, acute learning disability nurse at University Hospitals Plymouth, said: "For me, the most rewarding part of the role is supporting patients through their entire hospital journey, from admission right through to discharge.

"It's also a fantastic opportunity to work with a wide range of health professionals; from consultants to physios, radiographers, the domestic team, the rest of the nursing team, health care assistants and more."

She added that it was important to have "excellent communication skills - both verbal and non-verbal - and to be creative, innovative and think outside the box".

'Exciting profession'

Danni Picot is a mental health nurse and deputy ward manager of the mother and baby unit at Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

She said: "Mental health nursing is a unique and exciting profession, there are so many opportunities to choose from and with new services developing all the time there is something that will suit anyone and what they want to get out of nursing."