Self Reflection on Mental Health Nursing Practices and Experiences

This essay provides a self-reflection on the author's experiences, knowledge, and skills in mental health nursing. It defines mental health and mental illness, and discusses the values, attitudes, and beliefs essential for nurses in this field, emphasizing empathy, compassion, and the importance of therapeutic relationships. The essay explores the concepts of personal and clinical recovery, highlighting the significance of addressing both clinical symptoms and the patient's overall well-being. It examines the impact of stigma on mental health and the importance of culturally safe nursing practices. Furthermore, it emphasizes the therapeutic use of self, the importance of comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments, and the use of assessment tools in providing effective care. The author concludes by reflecting on the challenges and rewards of mental health nursing and the importance of evidence-based practices, cultural competence, and ethical principles in delivering optimal patient care.

Running head: SELF REFLECTION
SELF REFLECTION
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Definition of mental health and mental illness:
Mental health can be defined as the state of well being where the individual has the
capability to realize his or her own abilities. He or she should be capable to cope with the normal
stresses of life and can work productively which would help him to contribute to his or her own
community. Any kind of mental illness can be recognized as the condition here an affected
individual will have impairment in his cognitive as well as relational abilities (Angerman &
Matschinger, 2003). The disorders may result from developmental, biological and also
psychosocial factors which can be managed with the help of different evidence based approaches
which are comparable to any kind of physical diseases (Evans, Nizette & O’Brien, 2017). The
following essay will mainly portray the knowledge that I have gathered the experiences I have
gone through and the different skills I have gathered in my profession.
Values, attitudes and beliefs about mental health and mental illness and roles of nurses:
The main values that I possess as a a mental care nurse are the feeling of empathy and
compassion towards the patient. I should follow the principle of autonomy and dignity where
the wishes of the patients should be given prior importance than anything else (Cox, 2013).
Moreover I should also follow the principle of justice, beneficence and non maleficence to stay
away from legal obligations. I have always tried to develop therapeutic relationship with my
patient so that I can provide a person centered care to this as evidences suggest that this strategy
have more fruitful effect in patients’ recovery than traditional application of interventions.
Mental ill patients often require more time and dedication of the nurses as the therapy provided
to them requires much more time than any interventions given to patients suffering from physical
disorders (National survey of mental health and wellbeing, 2007). Hence I need patience and
provide my best skills and knowledge to cure them mentally by proper medication and also

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counseling techniques. I have always been very particular about my patients health and under no
condition neglected any symptoms shown by them or had taken them for granted. I believe
mental health nursing requires more determination, strength to critically analyses situation and
establish a proper treatment plan and be compassionate towards them so that they can feel the
sense of being loved, cared for, and understood.
Concept of personal recovery and clinical recovery:
As a mental health nurse, I have learnt that it is more important for the patient to develop
internally and personally than clinically. By this statement, it means that I should pay more
importance in keeping the person happy and help him to feel contempt with life. Only looking
after clinical symptoms are not enough. If I get a dementia patient who have several symptoms
like memory loss, improper speech, aggression, suffer development of low feelings and many
others I would try to cure all her symptoms but first I will try to strike a good conversation and a
proper therapeutic relationship with him so that he can rely on me and make me his friend. This
will make my treatment easy and this will help him in recovering personally as well as clinically.
Importance of stigma on mental health:
One of the most important factors that often remain associated with mental illness is
stigma. I have noticed that two type of stigma affect health of individuals. One is the social
stigmas which are exhibited by people of the society comprising of prejudicial attitudes and
discriminating behaviors towards the patient (Pattyn et al., 2013). Another is the self stigma that
patients experience due to the perceptions of discrimination and their feeling of shame leading to
poorer treatment outcomes. Often these feelings make the people withdraw himself from the
society and thus he loses social connectedness affecting his quality of life (Happell and Gaskell,

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2013). These have serious effect on the treatment plan making the recovery period longer and
large number of patient stays.
Culturaly safe mental health nursing services:
I have also learnt through evidence based studies that nurses who portray culturally safe
treatment interventions are more successful than nurses who are not culturally competent.
Providing intervention in a culturally competent manner with showing respect to patients’
cultural preferences make them feel accepted in the healthcare systems which have positive
effects on their mind (Laschinger et al., 2013). As a result it becomes easier for them to develop
their trust in us and work accordingly to our advices. One good example was the example
provided by our mentor on aboriginal patient who visited a centre with symptoms of mood
disorders. As their cultural norms do not allow direct looking in their eyes, the nurse should
work accordingly which would satisfy him. This skill must be developed by me to become
successful in my profession.
Therapeutic use of self in relationships:
It is very important for the nurse to know that the patient thinks of himself or herself
before planning out any treatment intervention. I try to critically analyze the patients’ different
activities so that I can develop an idea about what the patient thinks about himself, his condition,
the reason he feels himself to be in that situation and others. All these help the nurse to
understand the correct strategies which will help him to overcome his presence feelings, in his
way, knowing about the patient’s history and his present condition will help me to reach a
conclusion and develop treatment plan which will bring best benefits (Stuart, 2014). In doing so,
I also need to reflect on myself and my personal traits which create barriers in dedicating my best

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forms to the patients. I should try to develop those traits towards betterments so that I can also
develop the best therapeutic relationship. In long rum, I have worked over my communication
skills which had helped me to in my profession.
Importance of a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment and use of assessment tools:
Another important thing that I have identified to be important in treatment of mentally ill
patients is developing a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment. Previously, the old
traditional biomedical model of treatment has been criticized by researchers (Townsend, 2014). I
have noticed that also developing interventions after assessing not only their physical condition
but also their social and psychological backgrounds help me in understanding the main cause of
their ailments. Hence, there is less chance of reoccurring of the symptoms as we provide
interventions in the three genres equally proving an overall treatment. Some of the assessment
procedures like Mental State Examination (MSE), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are found to be helpful tools in assessing the cognitive power of
the patients. With help of the results obtained from such assessment procedures and with the help
of the skills and knowledge I have gathered over the years along with my mindfulness and self
awareness, I have successfully delivered care to all my patients.
Conclusion:
The profession of mental health nurse is rewarding, as one provides care that helps
people to come back in their normal regular lives. However the pathway of treatment is not
always easy as it has many challenges. Nurses need to critically analyze the patients; symptoms
and undergo a biopsychosocial assessment with the help of important tools to develop an idea of
the condition. Striking a proper relationship and gradually helping the patient to recover from his

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symptoms with evidence based treatments and empathy and compassion are important. The
nurse however should be culturally competent so that he or she can provide the best care. I also
follow the principles of justice, autonomy, benefice and non maleficence so that I can give the
best care to my patients.
References:
100 Ways to Support Recovery. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.rethink.org/about-us/commissioning-us/100-ways-to-support-recovery
Angermeyer, M. C., &Matschinger, H. (2003). The stigma of mental illness: effects of labelling
on public attitudes towards people with mental disorder. Acta PsychiatricaScandinavica,
108(4), 304–309. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0447.2003.00150.x
Cox, L. (2013a). Cultural Safety in Introducing mental health nursing: a service user-oriented
approach (2nd edition). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Evans, K., Nizette, D., & O'Brien, A. J. (2017). Psychiatric and mental health nursing (4th ed.).
Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier Australia.

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Happell, B. and Gaskin, C.J., 2013. The attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards
mental health nursing: a systematic review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(1-2), pp.148-
158.
Laschinger, H. K., Wong, C., Regan, S., Young-Ritchie, C., & Bushell, P. (2013). Workplace
incivility and new graduate nurses’ mental health: The protective role of
resiliency. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(7/8), 415-421.
National survey of mental health and wellbeing: summary of results, 2007. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/4326.0~2007~Appendix~Comparison
+between+1997+and+2007+(Appendix)?OpenDocument
Pattyn, E., Verhaeghe, M., Sercu, C., &Bracke, P. (2013). Medicalizing versus psychologizing
mental illness: what are the implications for help seeking and stigma? A general
population study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48(10), 1637–1645.
doi:10.1007/s00127-013-0671-5
Stuart, G. W. (2014). Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Townsend, M. C. (2014). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care in evidence-based
practice. FA Davis.