Any Mental Health student nurses/qualified nurses??

[tiredemma]

Im off to Bham uni in sept to do a degree in nursing- I dont have to choose my branch until the end of year one and recently I have been so drawn to Mental health nursing, I have read tonnes of stuff about the role itself - but would really value any first hand advice that anyone can give me.

many thanks

TE

Hi, not a nurse but an OT. I was adamant that I was going to work in mental health when I started - ended up doing rheumatology! I'm really happy with how it turned out, my best advice is keep an open mind, you really won't know what suits you until you've tried it. Mental health is VERY emotionally draining, don't get me wrong, it can be rewardingbut try before you buy as it were. hth.

I am an adult nurse currently working in haematology. I admit I enjoyed my mental health placement during my training but knew I couldn't work in that field permanently. When I applied for my training as a paediatric nurse I was adamant that I was going to come out as one, but as the course went on and the more placements I experienced, approximately half way before we branched ( I am of the projec 2000 lot) I talked through my options with my tutors and decided that adult nursing was the way to go as it left with a lot more options at the end of the course (all the diverse types of adult nursing within the specialities) and fought hard to change branches (numerous meetings with the branch leaders and the vice dean of the university). If I can help at all please don't hesitate to get in touch! hth.

I would agree with the others and say keep an open mind. We didn't have to choose until after the 18 month foundation programme, so we could all see how we got on initially, and then choose. The mental health placements are very different from general nursing, so I think its something you either really like, or you feel a bit like fish out of water. I decided to do adult nursing as it seems so much easier to change to other specialities later on. Some of my group however just loved their mental health placements, and knew it was their calling straight away - so just wait and see! Good luck on your course!

thnaks so much for your replies- all of them are really interesting- I will keep my options open and just enjoy the course- instead of stressing already about where I want to work.

thanks again- im sure i will pick your brains again over the next 3 yrs!!