To be annoyed Mental Health Nursing ‘isn’t real nursing’

[Happymedium31]

I work in an impatient Mental health unit for the NHS (PICU). Picked a prescription up from our local pharmacy and the conversation turned to Covid-19. The member of staff basically joked saying we couldn’t class ourselves as frontline workers as we were Mental Health and it’s not real nursing.
I had to bite my tongue while keeping confidentiality (1 confirmed case on our unit and 1 confirmed case on the Acute unit that’s on the same site) and told her we had exactly the same difficulties as a General hospital ie shortage of PPE, extremely vulnerable patients, staff shortages due to staff self isolating etc.
She basically brushed it off as if I was stupid.
Is this the opinion of the British public?
We are Nurses too, just in a different field, facing the exact same impossibilities and quite frankly broken.
Am I AIBU to be livid?

Mental Health is consistently underfunded and undervalued.
When the physical side of this is sorted there will be an increased demand for MH services as fallout.
Lets hope the 'whatever they need' attitude moves over to MH services.

YABU to let a pharmacist define nursing to you

We have a different role to RGNs but face our own challenges, and have our own skill set to deal with these challenges. Nursing isn't limited to RGNs.

You work in a PICU, you are frontline. What would happen to your patients and the public without your service?

I have never heard anyone is the general public say this. You have a hard job and are very skilled. I think people like that are in the minority .

Try being a Learning Disability Nurse 🙄 don't think my parents even think I'm a real nurse 😂

We (RNLDs and RMNs) absolutely are real nurses. People who don't think we are have no understanding of the role of the nurse.

And anyway I've come to the conclusion that people think I'm not a real nurse because they don't understand the worth of the people I care for or the issues they face, so don't see why I'm needed. Maybe that could also apply to MH nursing?

Hello, fellow RMN. I'm a CPN, likely to be redeployed shortly to the wards.

Our services are overstreched enough, and I think coronavirus will increase the amounts of suicides etc as people are becoming increasing isolated and services are stretched to the limit. All our non urgent clinics are cancelled and I'm having to contact clients to say, we can't offer services. Most have been understanding, but I really, really worry for them.

I'm not an anxious person, but the whole thing has left me feeling on edge the whole time. I can't imagine what it would be like if I already had a mental health issue.

Ahhh I hear you.

Apparently I'm not a real nurse because I don't work in a hospital...

(Primary care)

I was a mental health Nurse. for a long time ,of course it's real nursing but it is a very different field to general nursing ,I don't think you can compare them tbh

A family member spent a significant period of time as an inpatient in a mental health unit for the elderly and I have never been so impressed with a group of people as I was with the mental health nurses. The patience with which they dealt with extremely complex demands of the patients and the knowledge and expertise they had was extraordinary. It maybe a different battlefield, it's frontline nursing. My goodness I'd have given the pharmacist what for!!

I’m a adult nurse who is about to be deployed to Critical care. I’d rather than be there than do your job. I did a three week placement on mental health and went home and cried every day. I couldn’t do your job.

Speaking as someone who's personally had reason to be cared for by mental health nurses as an inpatient several times, and longer term, for bipolar, I'm incredibly grateful to your fellow professionals.

It takes a very special, highly-skilled person who has personal qualities and great sensitivity, quite apart from the practical side.

(I would imagine a learning disability nurse absolutely shares those characteristics, too, @hula008 )

On a couple of occasions, friends have literally been stopped from taking their own lives only by the amazing support from MH nurses.

One of those friends got stuck with a notoriously pompous idiot of a consultant (not the norm, luckily) and was treated pretty shoddily and dismissively: their key MH nurse advocated and bent over backwards to press for better medication management.

Anyone denigrating the work you all achieve, often up against a shockingly under-resourced system, can bloody do one.

And as PPs have stated, the fallout from the Covid-19 crisis will be immense. Perhaps those that don't appreciate you now will then have the grace to admit they were ignorant as to what's entailed?

Stay safe, and thank you from me.

My son is on lockdown in a residential home for people with MH issues. The staff there are dealing with very difficult issues.

MH nurses are real nurses and will be needed more than ever during and after this crisis.

MH nurses are very much real nurses, they are invaluable to my Ds who has complex mental health issues and we as a family are forever thankful for the care and support you provide.

Not all of us feel like that - as all keyworkers, MH nurses have my untmost respect for continuing under such difficult circumstances.

Thank you lovely people. I’ve calmed down now although I did question what the public’s perception of MH nursing was. It’s not all restraint and sedation.
God bless everybody on the frontline and all of the key workers. Every single one of you are heroes. Looking forward to coming out of the otherside, hopefully with good health.
Stay safe everyone

Wow. I think it's the toughest form of nursing.

You should complain. Once the physical threat of Covid-19 us contained, the mental health aspect will kick in like a sledgehammer and be in huge demand. You do a fab job.

There will be MH casualties as a side effect of this lockdown, necessary as it is, and MH nurses will be more important that ever.

The pharmacy woman is an idiot.
for you.

YANBU not sure why people don’t think it’s real. The last decade and my degree in it must be a mirage / nightmare!

I once got asked by a traffic police officer if l was a real nurse, l asked him if he was a real police officer. Quite quickly he realised he was out of order and apologised

Op can I just ask is your hospital still taking admissions? We are stopping admissions and I feel really mixed about it

YANBU I don't work for the NHS and tbh I'm very rarely in hospital but one of the few times I've been in was when my sister was taken to a&e after blacking out and having severe back pain... she was seen to straight away! However a young lad in the cubical next door was left screaming at the top of his lungs with no one doing anything! When a nurse came to check on my sister she told us he had mental health issues but the mental health department was short staffed so there was no one to come and help him! It was then I realised how important MH staff are! Any other pain can be treated straight away but MH is just often left until someone is available!

You should complain.
So a pharmacy worker ( I’m assuming not the actual pharmacist) made this comment?
In which case you could retort that he/she was not frontline as all they have to do is ensure that the word on the prescription is the same word as on the box. Hardly frontline in itself.
Mental health is ABSOLUTELY frontline, particularly now!

YANBU. My perinatal mental health team saved my life. Thank you for everything you do.

@Bottomplasters closed to new admissions at the moment. Also no movement on step up/step downs which is frustrating. We have patients who are ready to be stepped down to Acute and are not handling being restricted on PICU and you can see them teetering on relapse. Also one gentleman who has been accepted for LSU potentially MSU and we are struggling to manage him but cannot move him on. It’s so frustrating.