Middlesbrough custody nurse took on role to 'help make a difference'
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A Middlesbrough custody suite nurse has been telling us she took on the role to help make a difference to people who have been arrested.
Rachel Setchell says those spending time in the cells are sometimes the most vulnerable in the community as they do not tend to access healthcare.
She said: "We can come in and we can either treat them or signpost them to go to their GP to try and get their problem sorted out, give medication, assess risk and any mental health risks. If there's children coming in we can safeguard them and refer them to other services. I think seeing vulnerable people who have maybe for whatever reason turned to substance abuse and crime is the hardest part of the job.
"You feel like you just want to help them and make everything better for them but you can't. You've just got to try and point them in the right direction and help them as best as you can. It's great when you make a difference, it just reinforces why you became a nurse in the first place just to make a difference to people and to try and help.
"People who come into custody sometimes are the most vulnerable people that you get in the community and they dont' access help there very much. They come in with quite a lot of comorbidities and problems.
"We just do 12-hour shifts so the normal pattern that we do is two day shifts, two night shifts and we have four days off and that's our rolling pattern. There's eight nurses in total and there's always 24-hour nurse cover so there's always usually two nurses on shift; two on days and two on nights. It just goes in that cycle."