Essay Writing on the Role of the Mental Health Nurse – Nursing Student | Study Coach UK
Nursing students should raise their awareness about different roles in nursing; here at Study Coach UK, we believe that nursing students should be well-informed about nursing roles, this will enable students to make the right choice of which aspect of nursing practice they should follow. For example students should be aware if there is a difference between a Mental Health Nurse and a Psychiatric Nurse? Do they in fact do the same job? These nursing career questions should be of interest to current nursing students and to those contemplating a nursing career. It is good to have an insight into all areas of nursing when undertaking nursing education, particularly in view of multi-disciplinary teamwork.
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This Study Coach blog article sets out to define the role of the Mental Health Nurse, and to distinguish mental health nursing from psychiatric nursing. In all areas of nursing, therapeutic care is important, values will therefore be considered. Mental health is usually associated with behavioural issues, the blog will therefore give an insight into some of the challenges nursing staff are likely to encounter in their day-to-day work. If NHS nursing students are contemplating working abroad once qualified, it is important for students to become aware of role differences, for example is nursing in the USA, Canada, Australia, similar to or different to NHS nursing roles.
Essay Writing and Mental Health Nursing
When preparing to write the essay, the student’s job is to gather relevant and sufficient evidence based on the assessment criteria. Nursing students should prepare to write from a discursive point of view, this will require students to use critical thinking skills to produce discursive arguments. As a student if you find yourself basically reiterating what the research says then you are being descriptive and this could lead to issues of plagiarism, irrespective of you referencing the source. To write a good essay, students need to rely less on researchers words and instead critically analyse research findings, weighing-up research data and considering the merits of arguments, relevance of methodology used, assumptions made, debatable points, and expressing why the points are debatable will all help to lead to a discursive essay on Mental Health Nursing.
Nursing Education – Multiple Roles
It is a good thing to have an insight into other areas of nursing, particularly if you work in a multi-disciplinary team; to be informed of other health professional roles will be advantageous to your own practice. Most people operating outside of nursing will be aware of the term ‘mental health nursing’ and if asked to describe the work of the mental health nurse, they are likely to say the following: The Mental Health Nurse works as part of a team; the nurse collaborate with the psychiatrists and doctors; the nurse assist patients to take their medications and help patients with grooming and dressing; the mental health nurse is involved with the patient’s care plan.
Some respondents might say that: ‘the mental health nurse deliver different therapies to the patient and their families and the nurse prescribes psychiatric drugs for patients’ (this last statement is a cause for concern, it is problematic and requires a discussion).
MDT and Nursing Practice
In regard to the above description of the role carried out by the Mental Health Nurse, it is correct to say that the Mental Health Nurse does work in a team and collaborate with psychiatrists and doctors and with other professionals. The mental health nurse therefore takes on a supportive role to assist the psychiatrists and doctors. It is also accurate to say that the mental health nurse helps patients to take their medication and assist patients with grooming and dressing, and will follow the care plan as designed for the individual patient. The nurse will also be involved with the patient’s psychiatric history and will note that psychiatric history is structured differently to medical history.
The suggestion that the mental health nurse delivers therapies and prescribe psychiatric drugs would however be incorrect. The mental health nurse is not a psychiatrist, psychologist nor therapist. The mental health nurse is not qualified to prescribe psychiatric drugs, though it must be said that some Mental Health degree holders, may have undertaken supplementary training to deliver different therapies or even to prescribe psychiatric drugs. It could be argued that these mental health degree holders have made a transition into another area of nursing and should not be identified as mental health nurses. Prescribing psychiatric drugs is considered to be the role of the psychiatrist or alternatively the role of the psychiatrist nurse. Cutcliffe and Ward (2006) states that there are differences between the terms ‘mental health nursing’ and ‘psychiatric nursing’; therefore there is a clear distinction between the role of the mental health nurse and the psychiatrist nurse. Nursing students should research psychiatric nursing in other countries and note the education route that must be satisfied in order to become qualified.
Health Promotion and Nursing Education
Historically, the concept of the mental health nurse was created by physicians to provide doctors with support in caring for people who were confined to asylums. If writing a critical appraisal or writing a general essay on the development of the mental health nurse, students should be aware that there is some criticism that the mental health nurse professional identity is in question. It is argued that over the years’ the mental health nurse has become somewhat dissatisfied with their level of professionalism and they are seeking a new professional identity. However, there appears to be a problem, as highlighted by Barker and Buchanan-Barker (2011); the problem highlighted is that the mental health nursing role has not greatly changed since its conception. When writing an assignment be it an essay or dissertation, Study Coach suggest that students take the opportunity to discuss this issue and support arguments with relevant evidence.
If the mental health nurse is to raise their level of professionalism then they would need to provide evidence of the value that they bring to mental health nursing. The suggestion is that mental health nurses’ would need to show that they are providing an added service that is not already being delivered by the psychiatrist; psychologist; therapist or social worker. In writing an essay on the topic of mental health nursing, the idea is not to negate the work of the nurse, simply to show the limitations of the nurses role, when compared to the role of other professionals. It is worth pointing out that though the mental health nurse is not a psychiatrist or a doctor nor a psychologist, the health system would collapse if there were no mental health nurses to support mental health patients.
We can therefore acknowledge that the mental health nursing role covers a broad spectrum of roles, responsibilities and practices, and these are defined by the respective institutions and policies of the day, therefore there are difficulties with providing a simple definition of the mental health nursing role. Meaning that roles will vary depending on institutions and practices.
Therapeutic Relationship – Holistic Approach
The Mental Health nurse’s prime function is to keep people and others safe; the nurse supports medical treatment in a hospital setting and help to manage the physical and social environment; the nurse helps people who are mentally ill to become mentally healthy.
Mental health nursing suggests that there is focus on health promotion, where the nurse takes a holistic approach to his/her work, and that approach is guided by evidence. It is not just the patient that the nurse will need to build good relationships with, it is also with the patient’s family. The nurse will help individuals and their families to find ways to cope and to help people to explore opportunities for recovery and personal growth, and this is achieved through the medium of a therapeutic relationship. Applying client-centred philosophy is important in nursing, when writing an essay the concept of client-centred can be supported with evidence from Rogers (Humanistic Psychology).
Essay Writing – Mental Health Nurse
The nurse will operate within nursing values; meaning to treat patients as persons, considering their needs and interests and to provide people with dignity and worth. The mental health nurse should therefore develop a therapeutic relationship that is respectful of the individuals’ choices and circumstances. This involves building on the patient’s strengths in order to promote their recovery. Therefore in line with nursing principles the mental health nurse should provide compassionate support (Barker, 2000). In writing an essay students could argue that the need for compassionate care should never be underestimated when caring for mental health patients. Mosher (2004) says, compassionate caring, without the use of psychiatric drugs, can help people grow and develop even for those with illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Ethics and Nursing Principles
We have already established that the nurse should be on hand to give assistance to patients to take their medications and help patients with grooming and dressing. Prior to offering drugs it is important for the mental health nurse to provide patients with a full explanation of any risks; failure to explain risks to patients would be dishonest, unethical and illegal. Forcing patients to take medication is against the principles of nursing; furthermore the use of any coercive or constraining practices such as control and restraint or seclusion is not holistic practice. In order to show understanding about ethics, these points should be highlighted when writing an essay.
If a mental health nurse is asked to assist in coercive practices, then this should cause some problems for the nurse, since this task would fall outside of the nursing role. The nurse could also have a legal case brought against him/her, for forcing a patient against his will. The nurse should always keep in mind that the purpose of nursing is to help people live their lives in the way the patient sees fit, even if the patient is deemed to have irrational thinking.
Nursing Education and Nursing Placements
If you are at the stage of contemplating a career as a mental health nurse, you should therefore realise that there is an over lapping of roles in the area of mental health, and that the situation is made even more complex with the practice of employing a multi-disciplinary team. The use of a multi-disciplinary team is extremely valuable, but it could sometimes raise questions of accountability for the mental health nurse, carrying out the hands on day-to-day care of patients. Students should also note that different establishments may implement policies in a different fashion, creating even more confusion for the junior nurse, who may have to visit various placements during training and when qualified. When compared to other areas of nursing, it is clear that mental health nursing requires a wide range of clinical and personal skills. For example, nurses will need to be skilled at reading patients non-verbal clues, and nurses will need to be adaptable to situations. In planning for the future, students hoping to work in the area of mental health nursing should develop key therapeutic skills to aid the mental health patient.
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