Mental Health Nursing: Standards, Competencies and Public Perceptions

This essay explores the perceptions of mental health problems among the general population, attributing them to factors such as drug abuse, genetic reasons, and spiritual causes. It outlines the standards of mental health nursing data collection, emphasizing accurate and comprehensive data collection through observation, interviews, and physical and mental health assessments. The essay also highlights the importance of developing unique nursing care plans, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the application of relevant theories. Furthermore, it discusses the core competencies of mental health nurses, including understanding mental illness, managing personal reactions, and maintaining collaborative therapeutic relationships with patients. The overall aim is to provide a foundation for training and practice essential for expert care in mental health nursing. Desklib offers a variety of solved assignments and past papers for students.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH 1
Mental Health
Name
Institution

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Mental Health
Perception of Mental Health Problems among the General Population
Mental health problem is a disorder which causes mild to severe disturbances in
behaviors, thoughts and thus resulting to inability to cope up with the ordinary demands and
routines of life. In most instances, attitudes and beliefs of lay people are created by personal
knowledge, interacting with the mentally ill as well as the cultural stereotypes. Parcesepe and
Cabassa (2013), argue that the general population perceives mental illness to be as a result of
drug abuse. Continuous drug abuse may trigger psychosis thus mental illness. The general
population also perceives mental illness to be an attribute of genetic reasons (Choudhry, Mani,
Ming, & Khan, 2016). This is because of the inherited traits and genes which may have been in
family history hence peculiar reasons for the perceptions. In addition to that, mental illnesses are
perceived to be as a result of spiritual and supernatural cause. Basically, the general population
associates mental health disorders with God’s wrath, curses and evil spirits.
Standards of Mental Health Nursing
Data Collection
In mental health nursing, the nurses are required to always collect accurate, systematic
and comprehensive data through observing behaviors, conducting effective interview as well as
assessing the physical and mental health of a patient (Townsend, & Morgan, 2017). This is to
help the nurses make sound decision and make appropriate intervention plan.
Planning

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The nurses are also required to develop unique nursing care plans which clearly define
the specific goals and interventions as per the client’s needs. This helps to guide the therapeutic
interventions so as to effectively accomplish the desired outcomes.
Professional Performance
The nurses are required to take part in peer review and other evaluation means so as to
ensure that quality care is provided to the patient.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
It is also important to note that the nurses should collaborate with other healthcare
practitioners when assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating programs for a patient. This
is to ensure that the intervention plan for a patient is able to achieve the desired goals.
Theory
According to Videbeck and Videbeck (2013), mental health nurses are required to apply
relevant theories to explain the phenomena of concern. This is for the purpose of providing a
basis for intervention.
Competencies of Mental Health Nurses
The competencies in mental health nursing are expected to provide a foundation for
training and practice which are essential for expert care. One of the core competencies is that the
nurses should be able to understand the phenomenon of the mental illness and be able to define
the basic terms related to the illness (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2015). This is to
enable them review all the statistics and epidemiology as well as describe the risks and protective
factors related to mental illness. It also ensures that the nurses discuss the best evidence-based

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practices which are related to mental illness. According to Caplan (2013), the mental health
nurses are required to manage personal reactions, beliefs and attitudes. This is of great essence
because it enables them to participate in the root cause analysis, attend to a patient’s emotional
needs, demonstrate self awareness as well as examine the impact of their reaction on a patient.
Additionally, the mental health nurses as required to develop and maintain a collaborative and
therapeutic relations with the patient. This is essential because they should be able to maintain a
supportive and nonjudgmental mind-set in regards to the patient and family, provide a
therapeutic setting in which a patient feels comfortable, and make realistic assessments. It also
helps the nurses to be able to follow appropriate standards of care and also use clinical reasoning
to determine priority of care.

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References
American Psychiatric Nurses Association. (2015). Psychiatric-mental health nurse essential
competencies for assessment and management of individuals at risk for suicide.
Caplan, G. (2013). An approach to community mental health. Routledge.
Choudhry, F. R., Mani, V., Ming, L. C., & Khan, T. M. (2016). Beliefs and perception about
mental health issues: a meta-synthesis. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 12,
2807-2818. doi:10.2147/NDT.S111543
Parcesepe, A. M., & Cabassa, L. J. (2013). Public stigma of mental illness in the United States: a
systematic literature review. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental
Health Services Research, 40(5), 384-399.
Townsend, M. C., & Morgan, K. I. (2017). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care
in evidence-based practice. FA Davis.
Videbeck, S., & Videbeck, S. (2013). Psychiatric-mental health nursing. Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins.