ECU Nursing Career Report: Mental Health Focus and Development

This report provides a comprehensive overview of a career in mental health nursing. It begins with an introduction highlighting the increasing demand for mental health nurses and the projected shortage in the United States. The report then delves into a literature review, defining what it means to pursue a career in mental health nursing, which involves collaboration with various specialists and providing care to patients. It also outlines the objectives of a mental health nursing career program, focusing on providing students with core knowledge and skills. The report further discusses the benefits and challenges of the profession, including limited training resources and the increasing complexity of mental health issues. Finally, it explores personal development plans and goals necessary for a successful career in mental health nursing, emphasizing the importance of a regularly updated CV and continuous professional development to achieve career growth and specialization, including overseas opportunities and senior roles.

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A Summary on Nursing Career
Name
Institution

Executive Summary
Nursing is one of the best careers in the world which depends on the perception that
different people hold towards the career. However one cannot deny the fact that it’s one career
path that provides a great platform for growth both financially, socially and emotionally based on
the perceived challenges. A nursing career offers a range of career options which an individual
can pursue. Such provides the student with an opportunity for career growth and advancement.
With a focus on mental health nursing, this paper, therefore, seeks to provide a summary of a
career presentation in a bid to understand what it means by pursuing the career in the medical
industry. It also examines the general topic of nursing with a focus on mental health nursing, the
goals of pursuing the nursing career, the challenges and benefits associated with the career path,
as well provide a detail discussion on some personal development plans or goals towards making
a career in mental health nursing a success.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................8
Introduction......................................................................................................................................9
Literature Review..........................................................................................................................10
What it means to pursue career in mental health nursing..........................................................10
Objectives of mental health nursing career program.................................................................11
Benefits and challenges involved in pursuing a nursing career.................................................12
Personal development plans and goals.......................................................................................13
Analysis.........................................................................................................................................15
Conclusion & Recommendations..................................................................................................24
References......................................................................................................................................26

Introduction
Health care providers in the whole world have grown to be of great importance to the
society due to the rapid increase in health issues such as the old age individuals living in
residential healthcare facilities. The demand for mental health nurses has thus increased with
the increase in healthcare needs. In the United States, for example, it is projected that the
nation or state is on a verge of a severe shortage of mental nurses. This has been due to the
fact that a third of the available mental health nurse was found to be at or near retirement and
therefore the nation anticipates a growth or a need of over half a million nurses which
translates to equally the same number of job opportunities for nurses according to the US
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
According to the 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the future of mental health
nursing, there was a call for all national leaders across all economic factors to implement the
changes related to mental health nursing shortage which indicated indeed there was a
shortage of nurses. It hence calls for relevant measures that needed to be taken to remedy the
situation (Chang & Daly, 2015). The report also called for the more educated mental health
nursing workforce and required that at least the registered nurses should have a bachelor’s
degree in nursing. The nature and process of childbirth, from the process of pregnancy to
newborn and care, it is very important to adopt expert view, opinion, or guidelines toward
provision of quality health care and services to both the child and the parents.

Literature Review
What it means to pursue career in mental health nursing
The study of nursing career is believed to be very exciting, diverse, and greatly rewarding
to those pursuing the careers. The study of the career is designed in a problem-solving approach
to learning. It as well integrates lecture based studies with clinical practices that are conducted in
major teaching hospitals through practical medical activities (Cummins et al. 2015). The
midwifery program for example, is designed in preparation of nurse midwives thus focuses on
academic as well as the clinical aspects of the program including the midwifery management,
pregnancy processes, as well as the child birth and new born care.
Mental health nursing involves working in collaboration with different individuals or
specialists with a focus on a particular group of patients such as offenders or adolescent among
others. As a result, the nurse will have day-to-day activities such as supporting and assessing
patients, giving medication, and encouraging the family of the patients to accept their conditions
and enable patients to take part in role play, drama, art, as well as discussion therapies. The
nurses will also provide physical care for old or very ill patients who are not able to care for
themselves (Broadbent et al. 2014). Mental health nursing is also designed to lay much focus on
teaching professional responsibilities of mental health duties such as the hospital mental health
management process, the primary health care provided to mental health patients as well as their
positive living with the community. The program provides students with broad knowledge of the
issues highlighted above and helps them become responsible, reliable, accountable, and
dependable mental health professionals.

Objectives of mental health nursing career program
Every career program is designed to meet specific goals or objectives either to the
students taking the programs off to the institutions offering the program. Most important is to the
students who are in search of mental health knowledge and skills core to the success of their
professionals (Borbasi& Jackson, 2015). The program therefore provides the students with
education and skills with a sound foundation in health science theory that is useful in health
studies related to the processes of mental health. The career as well provides clinical preparation
which focuses on the skills provided or acquired knowledge and judgment as well as
incorporating the appropriate medical consultation, collaborative management or even referrals.
Once an individual is qualified, they will be charged with the mandate of supporting people with;
 Anxiety
 Stress-related illnesses
 Eating disorders
 Alcohol and drug addiction
 Depression
 Personality disorders
Benefits and challenges involved in pursuing a nursing career
Compared to other nursing options or careers midwifery has some unique challenges
experienced in the line of personal professional development. Some of the challenges involved in
the pursuit of a career in nursing midwifery include lack of enough training resources and
exposure to clinical environments where a student can gain experience of what they might have
learned in their training (.Marshall &Raynor, 2014). It is believed that compared to other nurses,

midwives rarely get an opportunity to practice what they have learned or they have been trained.
This has been found to affect their general clinical confidence and thus affect their service
delivery towards providing quality healthcare to women.
Another challenge has been the transition process connecting the students from training
to specific mental health nursing jobs in various clinical sites. It is understood that the number of
mental health issues has continued to increase and even become more complex due to increasing
number of social issues such as stress that may lead to mental challenges (Lima et al. 2014). The
same study denotes that on the contrary, the numbers of available mental health workers are
getting older, but with a low replacement of the older nurses with young ones. However, it is
important to note that the benefits of mental nursing profession have been a great challenge of
retaining of well trained and educated workforce in various clinical sites. As much as the mental
health workers have sacrificed and purposed to deliver the best health care, they are met with
frustrations in the expected rewards and returns (Walker et al. 2014). The salaries and benefits
are not sufficient enough as compared to that of other health practitioners or health care
providers and the National Health Service needs to implement some good working salary
packages to motivate the nurses on the work they are doing.
To promote career development for mental health nurses, it is important for the educators
to have an understanding of the value the students, mental health nursing professionals, or
graduates bring to the clinical training site as well as to taxpayers who help in support of the
education and most importantly the value it brings to the graduates (Duffield et al. 2014). The
current healthcare climate is highly changing and demands for more from a contracting
workforce. If such issues and the benefits accrued to the professionals are not met then the
problem of recruiting and retaining professionals with higher education will continue to exist.

There is also a challenge posed due to the widespread expectations of a physician,
whereby in most cases they are expected to perform the duties of primary care as well as those of
main caregivers. Hence, the clear responsibilities of the mental health nurses are not provided,
and in most cases, they tend to be misused or overworked yet paid very little (Renfrew et al.
2014). There is also a great lack of recognition of mental health nurses as parallel professionals
and therefore as pointed early, they are hardly given an opportunity to practice what they have
learned during training, and hence many may not fully utilize their potential.
Personal development plans and goals
Based on the perceived challenges, for a successful career growth and development in
mental health profession, one is supposed to have or develop some personal development plans
and goals. The study mental health nursing provides the students with opportunities for career
growth and development. It is possible for an individual to start working in a community or a
hospital and end up developing into a specialist; one can work overseas as well as develop to
become senior midwives (Iwasiw, & Goldenberg, 2014). However, this development will only
be achievable if the individual possesses some development goals and plans since one gain a lot
of experiences in the event of working as a qualified nurse.
Some of the personal development plans and goals include having or preparing a CV. In
the event of working as a qualified mental health nurse, one gains a lot of experiences from
different activities she engages herself in doing. Such experiences are platforms for personal
development, and it’s therefore important that one keeps an updated CV or constantly reviews
her CV (Cottrell, 2015). This is because a CV is usually dynamic and subject to changes and
develops as experience grows. It is also important for the student to prepare himself by learning

how to make job applications as well as training on interview skills. Training on job applications
is important in that they help the applicant understand how to align her application details to the
job description given and make sure he or she is fit for the job. Interview skills are also important
as they help the student to get acquainted with some of the expected questions from job
interviews and even on how to make the first impression in an interview. It also helps the
individual to grow confidence which is vital to the employers.
Lastly, as a career development plan, a student or a nurse profession will need to have a
post-registration education and practice (PREP). This requires that the student should have a
personal e-portfolio and profiling (Green et al. 2014, p. 90). These are review documents of what
an individual has done, what he has gained from different career experiences and a record of
some of the insights the student might have gained. In most case, the portfolio contains a record
of an updated current CV, documents or brief reflections on the individual learning experiences
as well as critical incidences in his or her learning development, a career development plan and a
record of appraisals or supervisory meetings and recommendations.
Analysis
Goal/ Please
only use one
goal per form
Strategy/performance criteria for achieving your goal under specified
competency standard Domain
1. Familiarizing
myself with the
• Critical
thinking and
• Engages in
therapeutic
• Maintains the
capability for
• Comprehensively
conducts

nature of the
career and the
roles the nurses
play in the
society
analysis and
professional
relationships
practice assessments
Understanding
my role as a
nurse will
improve my
effectiveness in
performance
Effective
professional
relationship
with colleagues
will be helpful
in
Remaining
focused and
relevant to the
career
Evaluate and
understand the roles
of the mental health
nurse in the
community
Areas of
strength Interest in
working with
those living
with disability
I get along
with a wide
range of people
Focused and
determined
towards
achieving
specific goals
Good assessment
skills
Opportunities
for future
development
Increasing
population and
job
opportunities
for mental
There are
several
specialists in
different
aspects of
Available
practical
sessions that
will effectively
meet the goals
Available
information in
literature on different
roles of mental health
nursing and their

health nurses mental health
nursing
responsibilities
Goal
Achieved /year
End of 2017
Goal/ Please only use
one goal per form
Strategy/performance criteria for achieving your goal under
specified competency standard Domain
2. Identifying the
future gaps in
my mental
nursing skills
and improving
my ability for
effective
performance.
• Develops a plan
for nursing practice
• Provides safe,
appropriate and
responsive quality
nursing practice
• Evaluates outcomes
to inform nursing
practice
Reflects upon my
current professionals
skills
Identifying areas that
needs improvement
and taking
professional progress
towards the same
Identifying and
developing
responsive quality
nursing relationships
with other nurses
Coordinate with
those in the research
role to ensure every
aspect of mental
Doing a self
evaluation to
understand my
performance in
mental health
outcomes to ensure
effective client
service

health is covered.
Areas of strength I have attained an
academic
qualification in
mental health nursing
Have over 6 months
practical experience
I have high level of
skills in responsive
quality nursing
I can relate well with
clients and
colleagues
I have proficient
evaluation skills that
will help me in self-
evaluation
Effective client
service is my primary
goal
Opportunities for
future development
There are more
opportunities for
professional
development in
mental health nursing
The more
performance you do
as a nurse, the more
experience one gains
There are more
online opportunities
for advancing my
skills.
Good relationship
with clients will help
me learn essential
skills that will
improve my
experience and
Access to online
learning platforms for
professional
development.
There are more
experienced nurses I
can learn from
depending on the area
of need.

performance
Goal Achieved /year 2017/year 2
Goal/ Please
only use one
goal per form
Strategy/performance criteria for achieving your goal under specified
competency standard Domain
3. By the mid
of my second
year of studies,
my public
confidence in
speaking,
presenting, and
performing
• Critical
thinking and
analysis
• Engages in
therapeutic
and
professional
relationships
• Maintains
the capability
for practice
• Comprehensively
conducts
assessments
Adopting
evidence based
practice
Help my fellow
learners to be
aware of the
goal to that they
Utilize every
opportunity to
present in
public
Identify the areas
that need
improvement

will increase
Reflecting on
the past public
performance
experience to
develop
effectively
can help me
practice like in
class discussions
Adopt proper
use of
communication
skills
Do a self-
evaluation of
my
performance
Liaise with fellow
nurses who want to
practice the same so
that we can present
to each other
Areas of
strength
Professional
knowledge in
effective
communication
skills
I have taken
part in many
public activities
that I can use
for self-
evaluation
I have good
relationship with
my colleagues
and we can
effectively work
together
I often engage
in professional
development
Effective evaluation
skills
Other nurses with
the same goal hence
we can work
together

Opportunities
for future
development
More chances
for professional
improvement
Good
professional
relationship with
colleagues
There are more
opportunities
for public
participation
Sufficient time for
practices during
practical lessons and
client service
delivery
Goal
Achieved /year
End of 2018
Goal/ Please only
use one goal per
form
Strategy/performance criteria for achieving your goal under specified
competency standard Domain
Improving public
performance
• Develops a plan for
nursing practice
• Provides safe,
appropriate and
• Evaluates outcomes to
inform nursing

responsive quality
nursing practice
practice
Using skills and
knowledge from other
publications to identify
areas for improvement
Recognizing and
working within the
scope of practice
Recognition of the
accountability for
standard patient care
Areas of strength A good time manager Confident and
clinically confident
Utilizing current level
of mental nursing skills
Opportunities for
future
development
To further develop my
public communication
skills towards mental
nursing
Adopt other skills
such as IT where
necessary
More chances for
improved or informed
nursing practices.
Goal Achieved
/year
End of year 3

SWOT Analysis table
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
- Nurses can take
inventory of
what motivates
them in the
career
- Mental health
nurses are often
assisted by the
local authority
with the aim of
achieving
effective mental
care.
- Support offered
help in boosting
the confidence
of work
- A chance to
empathize with
the patients
- The career is
too stretched
hence limiting
their time
with their
families or
extra
activities
- The career
limits their
social life
-Mental health nurses
have a chance to
work abroad
-Have different facets
for professional
growth and
advancement
-They can get
mentorship from
other senior
colleagues
-For mental health
nurses,
confidentiality is
essential and may
risk the career life of
the nurse in case of
misconduct.
-Severe mental cases
may be dangerous
for the nurses as such
patients often
become very violent
and dangerous.

- Patients also
contribute to
achieve
effective service
delivery.
Conclusion & Recommendations
Recruiting retaining of qualified mental health nurses has always been a great challenge
which has led to a reduction in the number of students or individuals willing to take the career,
an aspect that increases different perception on the jobs. Therefore, it is recommended that the
health care stakeholders should seek to implement an effective plan for recruiting new workforce
and replacing the existing old and retiring workforce in the nursing industry. It is also
recommended that mental health nursing students or professionals be provided with enough
opportunity to practice the insights they have gained through their training by having a clinical
experience that will boost their confidence and help them utilize their potential. From the
discussed challenge on the benefits of nursing practice, it is recommended that the National
Health Service and the mental health nursing Board implement effective plans to cater for the
welfare of the nurses through improved salary packages, allowances and hardship benefits for

nurses working in remote areas. It is also recommended that there should be a clear guideline by
the nursing and mental health nursing council on the transition plans of the students from nursing
training centers to clinical centers where they can gain enough experience immediately after or
during their training.
It is worth concluding that nursing is a humanitarian service and nurses are the pillars of
the human services since they provide the necessary care to the clients, a duty that makes the
profession very vital for the society at large. The career in mental health nursing is exciting and
provides an individual with great options for career development despite the perceived
challenges of the profession. It is hence important for an individual to have clear personal
development goals as well as plans to actualize his or her dreams of developing her career in
mental health nursing. It’s the career development that gives the individuals job satisfaction
accompanied with the passion for their job as compared to the benefits received from the
practice. It thus acts as a motivation tool but having a career goal or plan helps one develop his
or her long-term career dreams.

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