How to train your brain to be ready for anything in mental health nursing

If you are considering a career in mental health nursing, you may be intimidated at the thought of working in the mental health sector. In many other nursing fields, you are likely to have a broad idea of what types of patients you will be working with on a daily basis and have a certain conception of what your interactions with these patients will involve.

However, with mental health nursing, there is less certainty about what types of patients you will work with, and what your interactions with them will look like. Do not let this uncertainty put you off mental health nursing – there are a number of steps you can take to train your brain and prepare for a career in the field so that you will be ready for anything.

Practice compassion

Mental health nursing can be extremely challenging and involve working with patients who are not themselves and who lash out. If you are interested in pursuing a career in mental health nursing, it is important to develop a deep level of compassion with other people. If you find that you are struggling to find that compassion or want to practice compassion, there are many resources you can turn to, including mindfulness practice, books on the subject, and even films.

Foster inner resilience

You are very likely going to encounter a wide range of difficult and challenging emotions, and it is important that you learn how to handle these emotions in a competent and professional manner. If you feel like you could improve your resilience, you can take steps every day to slowly increase your inner strength and resilience in the face of challenge.

You can increase your resilience by asking for support when you need help and assessing situations that have gone wrong, including considering what you could have done to improve the situation or change the outcome. After you have reflected on what happened, remind yourself that you are human, that humans make mistakes, and that this is a feature, not a bug!

Take control of your career

If you are interested in becoming a mental health nurse, you can specialize through a degree course. The Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program at Wilkes University provides students with the type of rigorous training that they will need when working in the field. The psych nurse practitioner program at Wilkes University includes education and training both in the classroom and also in clinical settings.

Take advantage of your placements

During your placements, you will be put in a variety of situations and clinical settings. It is important to make the most of your placements and try to glean as much information as you can from your mentors and the staff you are working under. Learning to adapt to working in your placements will also help to train your brain to quickly adapt to different environments and situations that will be useful in mental health nursing.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes