3rd Year mental health nurse.

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Hope you're feeling better now. Its more than just doing meds, i work in forensic inpatients, you get less 'therapy' time than i'd actually like. Support workers get to spend more time with the patients than nurses as we always have a million other things to. I do however dedicate time to patients (ones who i have a good relationship with) and we get to talk about stuff. But it is a massive job.. restraint and im'ing is a part of it. Whilst on placement you shouldnt be restraining patients.. we're not insured to do so as students. I do managers hearing

Reply 21

Sammiem91

Do you have any recommendations of books? I’m starting my third year January and am stressing about my projects. What modules did you do? And is there any books you recommend?

Reply 22

Jaylo94

Hello guys! I applied for mental nursing and I’ve been accepted by Middlesex at at the moment. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions please.1- How risky is it to be working as a mental nurse?2- How is the job market? Meaning that is it easy to find a job as a mental nurse?

Reply 23

Tackle19

Original post by Jaylo94

Every job has risks, obviously working with people who aren’t mentally well can be unpredictable. I work as a mhnurse in a medium secure hospital, and yes there are soo many risks but its really not as bad as it seems! People can be impulsive, angry, really ill and some just down right horrible!
Ive witnessed a lot of incidents, especially working with forensic patients but you have alarms, colleagues and sometimes other patients around. Management are also good, and you get taught Control & restraint very early on too. Even through the ups and downs i can honestly say never once have i thought i’m in the wrong job or that it is too risky, you get used to the environment.

Job wise, you won’t struggle! Everyone is hiring, there are nursing shortages around the UK. You just have to know where you wanna work, mine was always community, until i had a placement on a ward and have been on one ever since i graduated! :smile:

Good luck!

Reply 24

Middlesex University

Original post by Jaylo94

Hello!
Congratulations on your offer :smile:

If you look at this article, it states that the employment for registered nurses will increase by 26% by 2020.
https://nursejournal.org/mental-health-nursing/mental-health-nursing-career-outlook/
So yes, there are loads of jobs out there for you :smile:

Do you have any specific question about the course?

Have a great day!
Ludovica

Reply 25

StudentMHN

Original post by Jaylo94

It's definitely something that needs to considered all times. Part of the job is assessing risk. Some environments are riskier than others, acute canbe quite risky because it has unwell people often without the staffing of PICU's/Secure Units people have told me. It's all about teamwork really, I never felt particularly at risk in any of my placements even though I've seen incidents.

I'm graduating this year and job hunting was painless for me, there is plenty of jobs around even if like me you don't want to move and only have access to public transport. But that's just me.

Reply 26

Jaylo94

Original post by StudentMHN

Thanks for the reply dear

Reply 27

Dmaydew22

Not sure if this thread is still open; but here goes...I have worked in mental health for almost ten years. My practice has been variable between forensics and acute. I had a few years prior to ward work, working in the community - dual diagnosis: learning disabilities and mental health. So, quite skilled I guess. I have finally bitten the bullet and decided to go from support staff, and go to university to do my mental health nurse training. It’s something I’ve contemplated for sometime; but financially this has always left me feeling ‘what if’ (needless to say you can’t think like this). Primary anxiety about how I’d survive being a mature student with commitments. However, my work (NHS) have agreed a flexible contract for me to aid this, couples with maintenance loans, I should be fine. My questions are:* what was the anatomy and physiology exam like? * medicines management/drug calculations, what were these like? * how were your assignments? Thanks.

Reply 28

Danielle1995

Hi, I’m a second year MH student nurse currently on my first placement of second year. I’m on a medium secure forensic unit and I am trying to come up with learning opportunities for the placement. I understand the obvious one would be meds rounds and learning the types of medication used on the ward, also being able to deal with high risk patients but I am unsure of the other things I could do so I am just wondering what your experience was and what you chose to focus on during your placement. The ward seem very much a “you need to lead your own learning” type environment so I want to come up with some things myself to speak to my mentor about. Thanks

Reply 29

Magdakosmo

Hi guys anyone here? What's the working hours of a mental health nurse? How many hours? Can you pick your shifts? Do you have to work night shifts?

Reply 30

1010L02

Original post by charliejanexo

Hi guys! I've seen loads of people asking questions about nursing! I'm a 3rd year mental health student if you have any questions ask away!!

What exams did you do in your final year ?

Reply 31

1010L02

Depends where you work. Most nhs trust for inpatients do earlys lates and nights weekends and holiday, community do mom-fri 9-5

Original post by Magdakosmo

Hi guys anyone here? What's the working hours of a mental health nurse? How many hours? Can you pick your shifts? Do you have to work night shifts?

Reply 32

mxna

Hi,

I am studying a Psychology degree and have finished my first year right now, however just found out mental health nursing is actually a thing and now think I would love to do MH nursing more than Psychology. I don’t know whether to continue with my Psychology degree and then do 2 years MH nursing as masters, or drop Psychology and start Bsc in MH Nursing. I am scared that 2 years won’t be enough for MH nursing....Im sooo confused rn and idk what to do....any advice would be appreciated

Reply 33

jfbonner

Hi

I've just finished an Access course and I'm considering applying for mental health nursing. I'm wondering, do you have to wash and dress patients, change beds and similar tasks?

Reply 34

jenniferxoxoxo

Hi How was the workload, did you had to do a lot of assignments or exams ?

Reply 35

Ashahwe7

Original post by EMT99

Hi!
I'm thinking about doing Mental Health Nursing at university, but i'm not 100% sure if it's definitely what I want to do. Could you tell me what you like/don't about the course?

It’s usually really good to get some experience because mental health nursing can be so challenging, especially when it’s something you haven’t experienced before. I personally love how the course is geared more so towards placement. As important as the academic and theory side is, there's just something you can’t teach in a classroom, especially for MH Nursing. So it is very unlikely you get through to third year without knowing whether or not it’s for you. But be warned the course can be quite intense compared to other uni courses because on top of having to complete hours and hours of lectures, assignments and exams you’re expected to complete 2300 placement hours by the end of the three years. You often get very little time off aswell.

Reply 36

jenniferxoxoxo

Original post by Ashahwe7

How was your social life at uni ? X

Reply 37

Ashahwe7

Original post by jenniferxoxoxo

How was your social life at uni ?

To be honest due to not having childcare responsibilities myself, I think the course was less stressful for me. But I did often find that my course structure clashed with my friends who were doing subjects like Law or business. When they were going back home for summer, I was still at Uni completing placement hours

Reply 38

jenniferxoxoxo

Original post by Ashahwe7

Ohh yeah understandable, would you say that the academic side is hard or manageable. I’m worried that it will be hard not necessarily the placement but the assignment and exams. Btw thanks for your reply x

Reply 39

Ashahwe7

Academic side is usually very manageable for most. Some do struggle with certain aspects such as exams but the university will always provide support where possible to help students who are struggling. But it shouldn’t be something to worry about. They understand not everyone is amazing with exams or writing academic pieces of work. The way they see it- more people passing= more nurses. So there is plenty of support, unis want you to pass. And no problem :smile: