Working in the psychiatric field was a choice I made at a young age. However, the profession in which I would like to work within the psychiatric field continued to evolve as I grew. Throughout my high school years, I explored the options of psychologist and therapist. As I learned more in depth about what each profession was capable of doing in the psychiatric field, I worried there was more paperwork than actual patient interaction. By the beginning of my senior year of high school, I was focused on becoming an inpatient psychiatric nurse.
While completing my Bachelor of Science degree at Gannon University, I was very enthusiastic about the psychology classes as well as my rotation for mental health nursing. My professors noticed my passion and provided me with many opportunities to care for patients who had extensive amounts of mental health history. I had the opportunity to participate as
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While the new position would take me away from the mental health field, it would also provide me with the opportunity to once again work closely with patients, the people who inspired me to pursuit a career in healthcare in the first place. I was only able to convince myself to make this change by also deciding to further my education and aim for a position in mental health in which I knew I would both enjoy and prosper. Fortunately my return to nursing allows me to continue to use many of the skills I developed while working as a psych-nurse. My time as an ER nurse has taught me a new perspective on mental-health patients. I now better understand what a patient goes through prior to arriving at a psychiatric facility, as well as what criteria must be met to request certain levels of care from insurance
I am a Mental Health Registered Nurse (RN) and being a Registered Nurse can be a stressful job, especially if you end up working overtime. If you decide to become a Mental Health Registered Nurse you are going to have to learn about the Education Requirements, Necessary Skills, The Salary, Job Duties and Job Benefits. When you are college you will need to take classes and learn until you have earned a Bachelor's degree or a Master’s degree. (Most hospitals prefer Master’s) According to allnursingschools.com “Committing to a master's degree program takes dedication, but it can have a huge impact on your nursing success in the form of new opportunities, from higher pay.” So getting a Master’s can benefit you in the future financially and
At the same time my mental illnesses were beginning to materialize. Once I realized something was wrong and had been officially diagnosed, I began to develop and intense interest in the human mind. Last semester I took a concurrent general psychology class. By the end of the first week, I knew that there was no other profession for me. After intense research and planning, I finally made the decision to major in psychiatry. This will allow me to work in a career field that will not only hold my interest, but will provide me with an atmosphere that will satisfy my need to help others.
Immediately after the encounter with the man at the hospital, I started researching counseling and therapy professions. I had most of the prerequisites to apply to the programs, minus an abnormal psychology class. The following semester, I enrolled in Abnormal Psychology and found it to be one of the most interesting classes I had ever taken. One day I was walking on campus and ran into a past classmate from high school. As we exchanged conversation and talked about our future plans, she informed me that her older brother was soon quitting his job at a private mental health practice. Not long after that interaction, I was hired as the Psychologist Assistant at the mental health office. During my time there, I became certified in biofeedback therapy, which was a great way to combine my medical background with mental healthcare.
Growing up, I had issues fitting in. Talking to popular people triggered a cumbersome stutter, the Kleenex at the front of class made me develop a waddle, and forget about presenting a project to everyone. Dancing was the only way to escape the pressure; however, every moment up to the performance, I’d fret over my synchronization with my peers. The never ending need to be normal still weighs heavily upon me to this day; however, I have developed some coping techniques over the years. Other people out there are not so fortunate, which is why I want to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. Yearning to be normal should not trigger anxiety attacks, everyone should feel comfortable in their own skin.
For ten years my parents sheltered me from the truth about my Grandfather’s suicide. The day he died is a blur, but I remember our afternoons together in his garden reading books he brought home from the library he worked at, and evenings eating Chinese food and watching ice skating—two of his favorite things. Finding out he committed suicide left me with myriad questions. As I matured my desire for understanding intensified. Drawn to human behavior and the mechanisms that affect it, I applied to the University of California at Berkeley as a Psychology major. In the summer prior to beginning my studies Anthony killed himself.
The specific area of interest within human services is mental health facilitation. I was raised in a household where all adults were involved in health care in one form or another. My maternal grandmother was an LPN and my mother is a Mental Health Counselor. Of course, my mother’s interest soon became my own, which inspired me to volunteer at mental health organizations even at the age of ten, where I spent my afternoons with helping with children suffering from mental retardation. An additional factor for my career decisions was, at the age of 21, I was diagnosed with Bi Polar disorder with suicidal ideations. It took several years for me to learn to manage my disorders and become a participating member
My inspiration to pursue a lifelong career in nursing derived from witnessing a close individual succumb to a painful and chronic disease when I was the tender age of 6. I pondered and researched endlessly on the symptoms and damage caused by that disease until I comprehended its origin and everlasting effects. The memory of witnessing that individual die will continue to plague my memories and serve as a reminder of why I continue to strive for my goals today. From that point on, I knew exactly the person I aspired to be in the future—a nurse. I was fascinated with acquiring knowledge about the human body and diseases. In high school, I applied to a local hospital to become a candystriper to gain more insight about the medical field and nursing. I was placed into the endoscopy department and it was there where I truly established my determination to take on the challenge of becoming a nurse. I witnessed and experienced a myriad of things during my time there. I grasped how to become more compassionate and to prioritize one’s life and safety above everything. The hospital became my personified version of Utopia.
Giving end of life care to my terminally ill mother has ignited a passion in me to read Medicine and make a real difference to people's lives. Caring for her whilst she was bedridden gave me an invaluable insight into the care of the critically ill. Dealing with death is a crucial part of a doctor's job and I feel that the past year has made me much more aware, sensitive and prepared me to deal with this aspect of the job. I am undergoing an induction for my job as Clinical Support Worker. This will allow me to gain familiarity within the clinical environment. Through work experience which I organised at a GP Surgery and Bedford Hospital, I have gained an insight into life as a doctor; I saw the importance of the surgeon having a high leg excision of a
In the corner of the small hospital room stood a shy little girl. “You shouldn't be in here, honey”, my mother said as she nudged me out of the room where my grandfather lay dying. At the time, I couldn't understand the enormity of the situation. Ignorant to what was happening around me, my innocent mind fled with curiosity. The beeping of the machines and the soft quick steps of nurses captivated my attention. I was fascinated with this strange new world. This is the moment that sparked my desire to become someone great; a nurse.
Growing up as a child, many children would watch cartoons and play video games, but I took an odd liking into watching videos about different mental illness. For the longest, I have been fascinated with the human mind; trying to figure out how it works. Entering into my adulthood, I became an individual who was an open vessel for people to dump their problems into. I get gratification out of being able to help people with their problems and see them with a smile on their face. Being a counselor's is not just making someone's day or listening to their problems, but it is also about spreading mental health awareness to other individuals. I selected the Mental Health Counseling program because one day I seek to become a Mental Health Counselor. Having a Mental Health Counseling degree, will
In 2009, at the age of 15, I learned about deinstitutionalization and the growth of homelessness because of this closing of psychiatric hospitals, but I never knew how this one little fact could change my life forever. Ever since then I have always been interested in the study of psychology and how people functioned mentally, emotionally, and physically; but I never knew the name of exactly what I was interested because I was drawn more in development and growth aspects of psychology, until my mom introduced me to her coworker that worked as an Occupational Therapist. After listening to her description of providing therapeutic assistance and teaching clients to not only deal with their disorders but actually manage their disorders to help them
In the future, I plan to work for the NHS as a mental health nurse in order to better the health care and treatment for patients. I’ve always had a desire to help people whilst also tackling new learning opportunities and therefore I would be suited for this course as I thrive on being challenged and have the determination and commitment that it takes to succeed and start a career in mental health nursing. I am really eager to learn the ropes of the job and really feel that I have what it takes to be a good university student. I believe that mental health nursing is a career that requires an individual to have emotional stability, empathy and commitment among many other skills that I feel I am able to demonstrate well.
Psychopharmacology combined with some form of counseling or therapy consistently produced the best outcomes in our research. People can easily take medication to treat mental illness, but it takes a skilled professional to work closely with an individual in counseling to help them with their challenges. I am not condemning psychiatry, as it is a well-respected, well-researched field. However, I want to pursue this degree to strengthen my ability to help people the best I can. Helping others and treating them with the utmost respect and kindness is the most rewarding thing I can do.
I wish to be considered for the Los Angeles City College Registered Nursing Program, because I believe that this program will provide me with the techniques and knowledge to excel in patient care and become a successful nurse. I always knew that I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives; after taking a few perquisites for nursing, I found that the science aspect of it piqued my interest. Studying about the functions of the human body, and how the environment, medicine, and genetics affect homeostasis, caused me to develop a passion for nursing. Therefore, I exposed myself to the hospital environment by volunteering in the ICU at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. My experience in the ICU was motivational and inspiring. I loved walking
Clear role definition is essential to the development of the psychiatric nurse. The expanded role of the psychiatric nurse is clearly identified in the literature for many areas of care such for the forensic psychiatric nurse in Lyons (2009), the nurse practitioner in O’Neil, Moore, and Ryan (2008); Kaye et al. (2009) , and for the mental health liaison nurse in Merritt and Procter ( 2010). However, a clear role definition for the generalist nurse is not easily found (Rungapadiachy & Gough, 2004). According to these authors, a definition of the generalist role and its associated behaviors are not easily articulated. Hildegard Peplau, the only psychiatric nursing theorist (McKenna & Slevin, 2008) identifies nursing roles that