Most of us take our mental health for granted. But just as our bodies can become sick due to illness, fatigue, or disease, so can our minds. Mental health nurses, also called psychiatric nurses, are there to help people who have difficulty coping with their lives. They provide professional support and care to people with all kinds of emotional and mental disorders.
Though the exact duties of mental health nurses vary depending on where they work, they all have common goals. They try to keep their patients safe, help them adjust to their environment, and as much as possible, help them regain their mental health. Nurses do all of these things by observing, assessing, and reporting on their patients’ conditions, providing therapeutic care and treatment to the patients, and in some cases, educating the community about mental health issues.
Together with doctors, psychiatrists, and social workers, mental health nurses assess their patients’ conditions and determine the best course of treatment and therapy. Once the initial assessment is made, the course of treatment and therapy begins. In addition to general nursing care, this can include counselling, planning recreational activities, administering medication, and monitoring the patients on an ongoing basis. Mental health nurses also work with families of patients to make sure that patients are getting all the help that they can.
Some mental health nurses specialize in working with children and adolescents and some work with the elderly. Many work in acute care facilities—with patients who are a danger to themselves and others. Some work only with prison populations, and others work with those who have substance abuse problems.
NOC Code: 3152