what are the qualities of a good mental health nurse?

Your personality and communication skills are crucial components of being a mental health nurse. If you feel you’re compassionate, resilient and adaptable then mental health nursing is an amazing profession; being able to care for people at their most vulnerable and work with them on their journey from illness to recovery is such an honour. Mental health nurses face challenging and unpredictable behaviour and to succeed in the role takes a special kind of commitment. With the new nursing associate role as a route into nursing, the hope is that these numbers will rise again. You’ll also use a number of other skills on a daily basis, including. Previous answer notwithstanding, I think the number one attribute a mental health nurse needs is mental health. problem solving; good judgement; offering advice; observational; interpersonal communication; psychosocial. ', three words pop into my head: compassion, resilience and adaptability. You will need to learn the skills for that placement incredibly fast whilst also making time for academic assignments, workbooks and revision, so adaptability and good time-management are paramount. The Ability to … Reliability 4. HEIs and employers will test you on your values as part of any application to a degree programme or job. I took myself away from the situation and, once the patient had calmed down, I sat with her and explained everything in a way that helped her to clearly understand why she wasn't able to leave the ward yet. You can cancel your email alerts at any time. The Nursing & Midwifery Council shows that the number of registered mental health nurses has decreased over the past 5 years, from 91,325 in March 2014 to 88,241 in March 2018. Accepting the Patient 4. Being able to comfort and support people who are ill, vulnerable, or scared, is the key to being a successful nurse. She needs to be free of bias, taking each patient on his or her own terms and providing consistent care regardless of personal opinion. Good communication skill is one of the qualities of a good nurse. I have a particular interest in child and adolescent mental health and before I began my nurse training, I did an advanced apprenticeship in a school. What makes a good nurse is more than practical knowledge - their personality traits are every bit as important. Statement. A mental health nurse needs to be able to remain calm in the face of chaos, absorbing insults and even assault without taking it personally. LOL Seriously though, be honest with yourself and at least one other person in this world on a continuing basis (that way if you end up lying to yourself, they will know you well enough to know what 'normal' is for you and tell you to take this or that action). Too often, the stories and achievements of people from Black and Ethnic Minority communities have been ignored and erased from history. QUALITIES OF A PSYCHIATRIC NURSE 2. You’ll be warm and engaging while showing real empathy with service users and their individual circumstances. I assured her that we would work together so that she would be able to leave at some point, which calmed her down. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so we’re sending out a reminder on how to check for signs of Breast Cancer, and how often you should be checking! Sometimes they're simply very irritable as a side-effect of their medication. They assist in crisis interventions, help patients with daily care routines, administer medications, and formulate treatment plans and treatment regimens. Mental Health Nurses work with individuals across the lifespan from specialist perinatal services, child and adolescent, working-age individuals, older adults and later life dementia care. If you feel you’re compassionate, resilient and adaptable then mental health nursing is an amazing profession; being able to care for people at their most vulnerable and work with them on their journey from illness to recovery is such an honour. She must be able to … Qualities of a psychiatric nurse 1. Accountability 10. Afterwards, the patient's partner thanked me for taking the time to be compassionate. Empathizing with the Patient 7. Here, we look at some questions you may have about Stem Cell Donation. Professionalism 9. The attraction for many who work as Mental Health Nurses is that no two days are ever the same. Self Acceptance 3. One of the things I found challenging in my first year was switching between being 'the new student' on the ward and then the experienced student on the ward, only to revert back to an academic student once my placement was finished and then back to being 'the new student' in a different placement area. Some days will be structured with arranged appointments, others will be respon…