Carlos Said:

Interested in becoming a mental health nurse?

We Answered:

Agreed with Exene, psychiatric nursing is VERY stressful. I have been hospitalized 3 times. Just being there is hard. Some have no windows and are locked down. My first time there was a guy who'd slit his wrists and was constantly bleeding (although it was slowed), but to see blood dripping from his wrists as he looked angry and sad at the same time, its a horrible feeling. Just knowing everyone in that floor tried killing themselves is sad. I cried for others while there. The nurses are a God send though most times. Caring, compassionate, and helpful. Due to the high stress levels and the ability to "snap" suddenly in a patient it is highly structured. In saying that, if you want to work as a psychiatric nurse you need to be fully aware of this and can't be panicking all the time while you work. I talked to the nurses about my problems and they talked me out of stupid things. If i were to have talked to them and then see them start panicking too, how good would that make me feel?

Sort yourself out and see if its something you really want to do. Do a summer intern program at a nearby hospital in the psychiatric ward to see how it is.

Debra Said:

What high school courses or what kind of college do you need do go to for a Mental health Nurse?

We Answered:

In high school, just stick with the regular academics. Some colleges make you take some pre-requisite courses before you apply for a nursing major but others you can just choose to major in nursing. All RN programs take the same basic courses - some fundementals, some med-surg, some advanced med-surg, psych, pediatrics, ob-gyn/labor,delivery, and usually public health nursing. Any graduate nurse can work in any field but you can't do much on your own until you pass your boards. You get experience in your chosen field just by doing it, having a mentor, watching others (see the bad as well as the good) and after a certain number of years in that field (usually 3 - 5) can test for certification in that field. (But it's not required.) You can only specialize (in psych, peds, family medicine, whatever) when you're getting your MSN not BSN.

Alexander Said:

Will my mental health stop my chances as a child psychologist?

We Answered:

Are you asking if we think you're mentally fit enough to work with kids? (I got a little confused, sorry, because you say that you already know that you can work with them by law.) If it's legal, then it really depends on you. I wouldn't worry too much about getting a job right now - your first test will be going through the necessary courses and years to get the qualifications, if you haven't already. If you can overcome your Agoraphobia enough to go into the necessary settings and you can keep your bipolar stable enough, then it might be OK. Also, if you manage to do the courses, then you can ask professionals there about this. There's a good chance that your teachers are different kinds of therapists/psychologists themselves, so they might know. If not, there should be Careers Advisers there who may be able to tell you. To work with children, you'll probably have to have a Criminal Records Check and be clean...can't remember if I was told that there's any kind of psychological medical records check, sorry. If it helps, I recently read about a psychologist who had another mental illness, so I wouldn't say that there's no chance you could do this.

Alfredo Said:

Mental health personal statement, what do you think?

We Answered:

It is concise and to the point, I think it is very good.