State of mind

It is a quality that serves her well as Level 3 Nurse Unit Manager at Lismore’s Tallowwood Adult Mental Health Inpatient Unit, a 24-bed acute care facility at Lismore Base Hospital. With voluntary and involuntary patients, Tallowwood is at the ‘pointy end’ of mental health care in the NSW Northern Rivers. It is also where Inkah's ineffable calm is invaluable for patients and staff.

Before nursing, her first calling was music.

"I grew up in an artistic household surrounded by music and arts. I studied jazz vocals and was a big fan of Ella Fitzgerald and Bjork,” says Inkah.

Interesting choices. Think of Fitzgerald's scat-singing and Bjork's often surreal experimentalism and they are not always easy to grasp. The human mind can be like that too, though never more so than when troubled.

The change from music to nursing was initiated when Inkah was admitted to Lismore Base Hospital for the birth of her first child. "The nursing staff went above and beyond to meet my needs and I thought, what an amazing job that would be," says Inkah.

"Sometimes you just need to take the leap and have a little faith and it wasn't long after that I enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing at Southern Cross University. I began studying nursing with the idea of transitioning to midwifery.

Inkah Fischer

"Nursing is an incredibly rewarding career because you have an opportunity to be in true service to humanity and to show people what true care looks like."

"I had lots of great opportunities for placements throughout the degree and the experience that stood out was in Justice Mental Health, working with the Psychiatric Clinical Liaison Nurse in the cells of the Lismore Courthouse. That really opened my eyes to an area of nursing I hadn’t even considered."

"I had lots of great opportunities for placements throughout the degree and the experience that stood out was in Justice Mental Health, working with the Psychiatric Clinical Liaison Nurse in the cells of the Lismore Courthouse. That really opened my eyes to an area of nursing I hadn’t even considered."

Following her studies, Inkah gained a place in the Northern NSW Graduate Nursing Program where she experienced rural nursing, acute cardiac care and her first taste of acute psychiatric nursing.

"My positive experiences in mental health inspired me to apply for the specialty learning line for Mental Health Nursing," she says. "I completed rotations in community mental health, child and adolescent care, acute care and older persons mental health care.”

Meanwhile, Inkah also added Masters degrees in Mental Health Nursing and Healthcare Leadership through Southern Cross University.

“The collaborative relationship between Southern Cross University and NSW Health made it possible for me to get the most from my degrees and immediately apply my learnings in my work," says Inkah, whose abilities and application have been well recognised.

A recipient of the Edith Cavell Undergraduate Nursing Scholarship, the Susan Law Memorial Prize for Academic and Clinical Excellence and a NSW Health Postgraduate Scholarship, Inkah was also named the Nursing and Midwifery Manager of the Year for 2020 in the Northern NSW Local Health District.

Gratifying as such accolades may be, Inkah's motivation remains the mental health needs of the people of the Northern Rivers. Those needs are considerable and were brought into vivid focus during the global pandemic and the recent devastating floods at Lismore.

"We had done some systems modelling in preparation for the pandemic and that served us quite well, although as the situation escalated we had to adapt quickly and think on our feet," she says.

"The mental health impact emanated in a couple of ways, both for our cohort of patients and our staff. Lockdowns, isolation, the impact on local businesses and livelihoods, all of these were influential. "I was conscious of what the staff were going through outside of their roles at the hospital. We were in crisis mode for a good while, yet always had the sense that we were in this together. That was the support we needed to continue bringing our best for the patients and each other."

Regarding the 2022 floods, Inkah is expecting the mental health impact to be felt for some time. But she is ready for it.

"I learned that as much planning as you do, what actually unfolds during a crisis is always unpredictable, so it pays to be able to adapt. It also pays to be calm, to take stop moments, to have faith in your colleagues and not be afraid to draw on your resources. Taking a step back to observe a situation can be much more effective than simply rushing in."

Testing as recent times have been, Inkah has emerged with a reinforced commitment to nursing and management.

"Nursing is an incredibly rewarding career because you have an opportunity to be in true service to humanity and to show people what true care looks like," she says.

"With regard to mental health, we have a high incidence of vulnerable people in this area and it can be challenging for them to recover in their own terms. Good leadership is essential and relationships are at the core of what we do. If the system does not work, it is the patients who suffer.

"Mental health nursing is the whole kit and kaboodle. You meet a variety of people who have such diverse life experiences, and the connections you make can be beautiful. They can be transforming. As the Nurse Unit Manager, I see myself as a bridge between the business of health and the priority of patient care."

For Inkah, it all comes back to relationships, to working clearly and calmly as an authentic leader, and to setting a standard in her everyday demeanor and performance that creates trust and stability for others.