Becoming A Professional Mental Health Nurse Health, Medicine Essay (Essay Sample)

Professional Mental Health Nurse
Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Professional Mental Health Nurse
Mental health practitioners need to have a great personality when dealing with mentally ill patients. Excellent communication skills are also among the essential components of mental healthcare nurses. Mental healthcare nurses need to have good knowledge and skills learned in class put into practice during their profession. They need to be warm and engaging as they show empathy, as they care for the patients and their circumstances. Being a mental nurse is a challenge, as one is required to deal with the stigma of the patient and how to overcome it. This discussion focuses on how a mental student nurse can transit to a registered mental nurse; through personal, professional, and academic development.
As a mental health student for me to become registered as a mental nurse I need to have proved to be competent. Registered nurses are the main healthcare providers in the US. For the students to be promoted to registered nurses, they need to be certified by nursing body that they are qualified for them to be registered. One of the key qualities I need to have is to be able to professionally evaluate the mental need of the patients. The first thing I need to do during assessing the patient is to try to interview the patient. The use of professional questions is important as the patient might not be able to take long conversations. I need to ask about the personal history; marital, work, kids, and friends. Also, trying to ask about traumatic events that the patient might have gone through in the past, and if he/she might be using drugs or alcohol. Asking on religion, what the patient believes, and what ambitions or aspirations the patient might be wishing is important. All these questions I should do it in a persuasive way trying not to annoy or anger the patient. Record all the details with all the necessary information, and how the patient responds to the questions is essential for me to record during the assessment.