what would you want in a mental health nurse?

[JesuslovesmethisIknow]

I have and have had mental health problems all my days. Currently have
issues with depression but am managing to continue in my training to be a mental health nurse.

Some of the crap they are teaching us in uni is dreadful though.

What do you consider as important skills a mental health nurse should have? what have your experiences of mental health nurses been?

Hi, I will reply properly to this when I feel less tired and can think properly, but I just wondered what crap they are teaching you?

Well done for dealing with your own problems but wanting to help others.

Listening skills, compassion, practical suggestions for recovery, doing all paperwork on time... Being honest about role, not promising all things and failing. Keeping to boundaries, following care plans if they matter to the patient.

Non-judgemental.

Treating the client/service user like a person, 5 minute chats about nail polish or silly YouTube clips or a shared love of Ryan Gosling build a relationship that means you can go on to discuss the serious stuff.

Not minimising distress, acknowledging and respecting that someone is very upset does not mean you are not doing your job, you can still be optimistic and hopeful and acknowledge that someone is struggling.

If you work in an IP unit, making time to spend with the patients, even if it is just sitting in the lounge for a few minutes a day.

Be honest, acknowledge if a situation is shit, tell someone if they need to be in hospital, explain why you are worried, or concerned about someone, ask if you need clarification about something or if you feel someone is contradicting themselves.

Oh and be an advocate. I am so grateful for the nurses who fought my corner for me.

Not being patronising, admitting when they don't know something, genuinely caring with no fake smiles, seeing the best in people.

I'm not very happy with my MHN so this may turn into a rant .

Have a genuine interest in the patient - mine asks questions but it always sounds like a tick list (and probably is). Do not make assumptions based on appearances, mine laughed when I said I was being assessed for autism (have got a full dx of AS now) and has questioned my DLA rate as I'm generally well-groomed during appointments.

Have an understanding of the patient's culture - not just assumptions about it.

Do not practice amateur psychoanalysis.

Do not spend every other session asking persistent questions about plans to return to work. Your patient will get enough of this from the DWP.

Make an effort to adapt procedures according to the patient's needs - mine always telephones to make appointments, despite knowing that I have a phone phobia. Then she will just leave a voicemail telling me I have an appointment the next day with no notice to cancel! Apparently she is 'not allowed' to email me.

Return phone calls promptly and turn up for appointments.

Listening.
Genuine interest and caring.
Not assuming your expertise (or even your lived experience) makes you an expert on that person and what works and not for them.
Not admitting when you don't know something.
Admitting when you've cocked up e.g. forgotten to send referrals, not written up plans etc, don't make excuses.
Don't make throwaway statements in a gossipy way e.g. mine said to me I'd have tp consider whether I wanted to live with my husband if he didn't get treatment for his anxiety - great message to send to me about mine! She also queried whether he was a hoarder as he kept old bills and said I must have been "hilarious" in a driving test with my OCD. Well, I wasn't laughing.
Open to being told you've got it wrong about someone.
Using the language of recovery and empowerment and not horrible medical jargon because you've been on a one day course on CBT like "catastrophising" and "minimising" and "ruminating".
Don't assume you know what it feels like to have a condition because you have read about it.
Remember it is your job and it is this person's life.
Be very careful about self disclosure, Mine was always going on about her relationships in a way that just didn't match my experience and I'm sure she thought this was therapeutic but it bloody well WAS NOT! e.g. oh I breastfed mine until he was 16 months to satisfy an emotional need in me... ah, fine... but I am doing it because I and my baby love it and I believe it is good for our bond and it is not just about me and keep your prejudices to yourself love!
Don't say you will call after, say, a massive exposure for the client and then not bother doing that.
Don't say that "oh [Psychiatrist] reckons you don't like him very much" (really?)
Don't just cease all contact because a client has been upset with you and then contact the Health Visitor to tell HER what you need but never write, phone or make contact again despite repeated attempts by the client to say look, no hard feelings, please get in touch I want to know what's what

Firstly I think you will have great insight and genuine empathy with people, as somebody else said up thread good on you for trying to help other people after your own experiences.

It has not been that long since I was allocated a CPN after a diagnosis of Bipolar. I was worried that they would be very clinical and non emotional but I need not have worried as she is absolutely lovely, reminds me a bit of Pauline Quirk, totally down to earth and I can really connect to her. We can have a laugh but at the same time she is really professional, turns up on time (very important as I get anxious and can't settle if I know some is coming). She doesn't give empty promises eg when she has to liaise with the psychiatrist regarding treatment, medication she tells me she does not know how it will go or what he will say and phones me when she says she will to let me know.

A psychiatrists friend asked me what I wanted in a psychiatrist recently. And I realised the question was impossible to answer. There are lots of ways to be good at mental health care and only a few ways to be bad. One thing I realise now but only with hindsight is that when I am acutely ill and very paranoid no one no matter how awesome can be good at caring for me, not even my DH who knows me better than anyone in the world and importantly loves me. You can, however, be calm, professional and prioritise my safety and when I feel better I will still appreciate what you have done for me. Promise.

On the other hand when I am well I am pretty easy-going and get on well with most people, including some right nutters (I'm thinking of the psychiatrists not the nurses here). So bear in mind that patients have agency too and also have some responsibility (when able) for making therapeutic relationships work.

In the meantime don't hit people, don't have sex with them, don't swear at them, don't write nasty things in their notes and don't forget their previous adverse drug reactions.

Oh and like working I found breast-feeding does make MH professionals make some fabulously unwarranted assumptions. I suspect people with MHN breastfeed for roughly as broad a range of reasons as people without MHN do, we don't do everything just because we are mental.

this thread is very insightful - I am actually taking notes so as I progress on the course, I wont forget.... though to be honest, they are in line with how I feel too.....

There are few if any mental health nurses, in fact none :(, that I have met that have come in to it divulging that they have been a service user. I stand alone in this confession but I sure as heck am not pretending its 'them' and 'us' as some of them do (grrrrr).

I had a funny experience with a psychiatrist on placement. One I had seen in my personal life. I was in a multi disciplinary team meeting and after my chat about my patients he pulled me aside and said 'my you are like a shining light round her (I was like, really?!). You really know your patients'. I said, well I was one. Yours actually :D That was a conversation stopper .

Just praying my own mental health wont fail me / snooker my plans though ah.

and I am sorry some of you have had crappy experiences.

I did too sadly :(

Be honest with service users, remember why you are doing the job.... Try not to get bogged down by politics.

A heavy dose of common sense goes a long way in most situations.

If you work in an inpatient unit don't forget the basics.... People won't sleep in dirty, messy beds. If people don't attend for meals it takes five mins to nip a sandwich and cuppa to them. Support in personal care. If the basics aren't met then the rest will never work.

Be honest, genuine, caring, empathetic and be yourself.

Could probably go on forever but this has stood me in good stead for the last fifteen years!

sound advice of which I shall remember.

xxx