Staff of the Da Nang Mental Health Nursing Care Centre under the Municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs are diligent with their job, and all of them are dedicated to taking care of persons who have mental disorders. Every patient is different because every patient has their own personality, expectations and motivations. When pseudobulbar affect occurs in these patients, they will have sudden, frequent, and uncontrollable episodes of singing, screaming, laughing or crying, or even breaking any things.

Ms. Ho Thi Hoi (standing) and patients with mental illnesses

Ms. Ho Thi Hoi is among the dedicated staff members of the Da Nang Mental Health Nursing Care Centre, and she has worked for this centre for 23 years.

Hoi is short yet she is very agile, resourceful, and energetic so that she can do such a difficult job that is unsuitable for mentally weak people, especially women. Caring for mental patients is challenging, and it is a very difficult and dangerous job as people with mental health conditions are violent, and these agitated patients can attack their careers or nurses at any time.

Various factors can cause mental health illnesses in these patients, including emotional shock, work-related stress or the pressure of life. Most of the patients at the Centre are the extreme poor, singles, and persons with multiple disabilities. Therefore, the centre's nurses help these patients with their daily activities.

Like her colleagues at this centre,  Hoi’s day starts early at 5:30 am to wake up the patients, assist them with personal hygiene, and give breakfast to them. Between 7:30 am to 8:00 am, she helps in bathing and sunbathing the patients, then cares for bedridden elderly patients, and helps them access physical therapy treatment. Between 10:00 am and 11:00 am, she assists the patients with eating and drinking. She goes back to work in the afternoon at 1:30pm, and finishes work at 9:30pm daily after the patients go to bed.

She is making great efforts to provide the best possible care for 28 female patients, including 18 persons with severe mental illness, 10 others with disabilities, and all of them also have diabetes and hypertension. .

Ms. Hoi shared: “Each job has the right tasks and responsibilities assigned, but managing and caring for people with mental illness require not only professional skills and experience, but also true love for them".

These works are just mentioned at the Centre, but Ms. Hoi has a much harder time with patient transfers to a higher-level hospital for treatment as she has to accompany her patients to hospital to get involved in the direct care of them. If she is negligent her duties or is not attentive, the patient will escape from his hospital at any time.

She has to work hard to care for mental patients but she does not  want to find another job.

“Everyone has their own perspective on life, so does the job. Nearly 23 years of working with mental patients and sticking with the Centre, I have never thought of quitting my job and finding another one. If I could turn back time, I would still choose this job again. I consider my work as a career not just a job and also as 'karma' ", remarked Hoi.

Ms. Hoi also plays a role of a psychologist while caring for mentally-ill patients as positive attitudes in nurses are said to inspire hope, encourage them to take control of their lives and engage in proactive decision making about their future.

She often calls her patients by name, and learns about their characteristics and circumstances. Thanks to that, she has developed a close relationship with them, hereby winning their trust during the process of caring and treatment for them.

Furthermore, Ms. Hoi brings words of strength, encouragement, and comfort to the patients in order to help them cope with boredom at a time of no their family members to visit and wishing to go home, as well as help them feel safe and secure at the Centre in the context of the agitated and uncontrollable behaviours they are experiencing.

Mr. Tan Thanh Vu, the Director of the Da Nang Mental Health Nursing Care Centre said: "The Centre's staffs are always wholeheartedly dedicated to caring for mentally-ill patients, and above all, diligence to complete tasks on a daily basis. Ms. Ho Thi Hoi is a good example of dedication to work at our centre”.

Ms. Hoi confided: “I hope I always have good health to do this job as long as I can. Hopefully, society has significantly more positive attitudes toward people with mental illnesses so that they can live with love and sharing from their families and communities."

Ms. Hoi has been honoured with certificates of merit from higher level authorities in recognition of her hard work and dedication for several years in a row. In 2020, she was awarded a certificate of merit by Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs at the National Conference to honour good examples of dedication and devotion in the workplace.

Hoi and her colleagues at the Da Nang Mental Health Nursing Care Centre are like honey bees diligently doing their work in an attempt to bring happiness to unlucky people like mentally-ill patients who consider the Center as their home, hereby contributing to branding Da Nang as an attractive place to visit and live.

Reporting by QUYNH LINH – Translating by H.L