I've wanted to be a mental health nurse since nursing school. I started out in Med-Surg but switched to psych in 2013. We have a long way to go to even establishing common competencies within our specialty!
I want to learn to be more methodical and evidence-based interventions when providing care. I would love a mentor to provide some motivation for ideas that I have for effecting change on my unit as well.
Eventually I intend to pursue a psych NP MSN and go into private practice incorporating holistic and western techniques. Currently I am pending a certification exam to be a Nurse Coach. :) I love coaching, it's super uplifting, and as a psych nurse I'm especially well suited.
I'm interested in:
- helping patients and peers develop a mindfulness practice (I've been meditating for 2
years)
- helping patients and peers find and pursue meaning in their lives. I perceive that this significantly contributes to nonadherence and readmission.
- CAM modalities
- instigating improved training for new and current nurses in my unit and
organization
- working on a specialty unit or on an ACT team.
Otherwise, personally, I'm an artist, a fuzzmom, and moved to Portland Oregon in 2016.
I appreciate that I can be an out-the-box role model for my patients and I have found that in both psych and med-surg that it doesn't matter what I look like since patients ultimately respond and react to how I treat them.