When Mental Health Nurse Unit Manager Lyndal Wallace arrives to work each day at PA Hospital, she’s also stepping back into the same hospital where she started her career as a student nurse in 1984.
The buildings may look different, and the majority of staff have certainly changed, but what’s remained consistent is Lyndal’s compassion, dedication, and sheer kindness to everyone she meets.
In the early days, PAH was not only her workplace but her home, having lived in the Nurses Quarters during her three years of general training. She later swapped Brisbane for London where she split her time between nursing and nannying, before returning home and taking up an opportunity in Charleville.
“And then in 1988 one of my friends was working at Baillie Henderson Hospital in Toowoomba so I thought I’d apply there. I was successful, decided to complete a mental health course, received a psychiatric nursing award, and never looked back.”
That transition was a turning point that enabled her to pursue her passion and make countless contributions to the mental health landscape across Queensland.
From Toowoomba to Townsville, Lyndal took her expertise north and worked across a variety of services, including inpatients, Consultation Liaison, Acute Care Team, ED mental health, and community case management.
Her leadership was pivotal in establishing the first Outreach Mental Health Service in Ingham which involved ensuring the community had access to essential mental health services, as well as doing clinic and hospital assessments and mental health education.
“That was really exciting because it was establishing it from the get-go,” she said. “That was also a time when we were at the cusp of mental health reform in Australia. I worked with some really experienced people including Dr John Reilly and Dr John Allan, and witnessed an evolution of change.”
“Throughout all these years in mental health I’ve certainly seen the move to least restrictive practice and just treating people like people which is so important. We’ve still got a way to go, but compared to decades ago, the landscape of mental health is so different.”
In 2010, Lyndal returned to Brisbane, bringing her wealth of experience to the Acute Care Team and later completing three years as CN and CNC in the newly formed Emergency Department Mental Health service.
But her love for inpatient care was calling and five years later she became a Nurse Unit Manager in PAH’s Acute Adult Psychiatric Unit where she’s been able to channel her passion for people.
“I like having my office door open because I love hearing the noise and chatter in the ward. Patients also come by for a chat so I still get to have some of that clinical focus, and I think one day when I retire, I might even come back and volunteer.”
“What I like most about inpatients is the teamwork with the nurses and building up those future nurses. There are some fantastic nurses coming up through the ranks and having worked in nursing for 40 years I am very confident for the future of mental health nursing,” she said.
Reflecting on her extraordinary career, Lyndal says one of the biggest highlights is in fact the work she’s doing now, with the support of the PAH AMHS Leadership Team.
Her unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality mental health care continues to inspire her colleagues and patients alike. Congratulations on this incredible milestone Lyndal and thank you for all that you’ve done!