On becoming a qualifi ed mental health nurse

Abstract

In this chapter we will consider the knowledge, skills, and attitudes expected of you as a newly qualified mental health nurse, before discussing how to apply for a job and develop your career. To help you consider this we have tried to include contributions from people who have a range of backgrounds and perspectives, who all contribute to mental health services, including a student about to qualify, a modern matron, a clinical manager, a director of nursing, a professor, and service users. To set the scene, our first personal contribution is from Julie Cresswell, a third year student nurse at the Birmingham City University and the Royal College of Nursing’s Student Nurse of the Year 2007. We asked Julie a series of questions that we hoped would help you in preparing to become a qualified nurse; these are her answers and thoughts about the future of mental health nursing and her career. In preparation for qualifying, I am now reflecting upon the experience, knowledge base, and skills that I have developed during my training, along with the transferable skills that I already had before I embarked upon this career. As mental health nursing students, we will all have followed a similar academic course equipping us with a certain level of theory and practical skills. However, what makes us individual is how we intend to use what we have learned throughout our lives and the philosophy that underpins our work. I began this course with the belief that psychiatric nursing was grounded in science. I now feel that while science can hypothesize about the causes of mental illness, understanding and accepting a client’s life experience is central to supporting them in times of mental distress. As I progress through my career, my approach may develop or change direction but for the moment, I feel that it will be vital to be able to communicate my own perspective to future employers. Developing your own approach to mental health nursing, along with an audit of what you can offer an employer in terms of practical skills, knowledge, and experience, establishes your own ‘unique selling point’ in a competitive jobs market.