Mental health matters to Hannah Nitschke and with that in mind she has been raising awareness at her place of work.

Her latest campaign was the One Foot Forward initiative in support of the Black Dog Institute.

Aspiring to become a mental health nurse, Ms Nitschke has been using her place of work, Boneham Aged Care Services, as a platform for her career goal as well as raise awareness of mental health.

“I have taken an interest in the wellbeing program at Boneham and from studying psychology in school,” she said.

“I had a great interest and passion in helping people in different ways, that might be suffering in silence.”

Late last year Ms Nitschke took part in the Black Dog Institute challenge.

She invited colleagues to join with 27 supporting the cause.

The team walked a total of 2636km over and raised $1424 to support crucial mental health research and support services to help those impacted by mental illness and suicide.

“This event included staff walking and reaching a personal goal in kilometres whilst also raising funds,” Ms Nitschke said.

“It has been an amazing way to spread awareness around mental healthiness in our staff.”

Ms Nitschke said the initiatives she implemented at her workplace provided an opportunity to also grow her wellbeing skills before starting university studies in 2023.

She has enrolled at the University of South Australia where she will study nursing.

“This year I am studying nursing and after the three years I am then looking at moving into doing my masters and specialising in Mental Health Nursing to become a Specialised Mental Health Nurse in the future,” Ms Nitschke said.

“Throughout the past year I have had the opportunity to take part in online seminars as well as completing my Mental Health First Aid Certificate.”

This achievement makes Ms Nitschke the fifth employee trained as a mental health first aid responder.

“These have definitely given me great information and insight that I can take into my future,” she said.