Gobsmacked, honoured and humbled are all words Clinical Nurse (CN) Clinton Baylis has used to describe being awarded Addiction and Mental Health Service’s (AMHS) 2022 Nurse of the Year.
 
The CN works in the High Dependency Unit and East Wing Mental Inpatient wards of the Princess Alexandra Hospital with some of AMHS’ most acutely unwell consumers. 
 
He was nominated for all award categories with colleagues saying he demonstrated excellence across the board and had the ability to change the trajectory for consumers, largely thanks to his therapeutic relationships. 
 
Clinton, whose first job was at a cinema in Darwin, entered the nursing profession in 2019 after switching careers from Land Management.  
 
He said the thing that interested him most about working in healthcare was the people and the ability to provide care to a person in their time of need. 
 
“I also liked the variety of the work nurses undertake and the impact they have on not just an individual but the impact they have on our community as a whole,” he said. 
 
“I am proud to be part of the professional team that works hard to improve the delivery of mental health care to our consumers.”
 
Clinton said although he was still partial to the smell of popcorn, he was now working towards completing a Master of Mental Health Nursing and becoming a credentialed Mental Health Nurse.
 
He wanted to acknowledge his ‘fantastic’ co-workers and said without them he could not have received the Nurse of the Year Award.