Congratulations to Nicole who graduated from the Psychiatric Nursing Program! We thank her for her hard work on the blog and wish her the best of luck in her new career. Questions and comments will now be disabled. Please watch out for a new Psychiatric Nursing Student Blogger in the near future!
Hi Everyone!
Spring is in the air and so is the start of Semester 6; my final step in this educational endeavour! My cohort has about five months left of school, and then we write our registration exams. Now is the time for prepping for the finish line and awaiting our practicum placements, which will begin in June. It’s an amazing feeling to look back and see how far we’ve all come, and know that the end is near!
Psychiatric Nursing is an often misunderstood profession. By that I mean people can be unaware of the importance of our careers and the positive influence we have over people with mental health issues. Even amongst other members of the healthcare team, Psychiatric Nursing is not always readily appreciated. Throughout my educational career thus far, I have had many people say “So… you aren’t areal nurse then?” or ask “who would want to study psych?”. Yes we are nurses, and we want to study Psychiatry because it is incredibly fascinating! These narrow-minded views are something we have to contend with. For this reason, I stress consistently throughout my blogs how important it is to have a passion for this career. Psychiatry continues to be an up-and-coming area of study; there remains a lot of stigma surrounding careers in the field, and this is something that, as a future Psychiatric Nurse, I want to change. Getting the word out there about what we do and why we do it is a really important part of the job!
My perspective on the role of a Registered Psychiatric Nurse has certainly changed since school began. It involves so much more than giving out medications and treating a patient clinically based on their diagnoses… it is about communicating with people and creating a safe environment for them to open up and begin to heal. It requires, more than anything, an ability to promote a non-judgmental attitude. Many people we care for in this field have a criminal history or show signs of aggression and violence… it is important that they are treated with respect, dignity, and that judgment is not a part of the equation. By having this kind of outlook, we are able to provide quality care and allow people the opportunity to change and grow around others who they know won’t judge them.
I am so excited for what my future career is going to bring me. Being able to help people is all I’ve ever wanted out of a profession… I am mere months away from pursuing a dream! What could be more rewarding than fulfilling a dream and making a difference in the process? And that to me, is Psychiatric Nursing in a nutshell 🙂
Thank you all for continuing to read the blog and ask questions! Keep them coming!
