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How to become a Mental Health Nurse

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Career progression and salary expectations for a Mental Health Nurse

Junior Mental Health Nurse

| Up to £30,000

Mental Health Nurse

| Up to £35,000

Nurse Consultant

| Up to £55,000

The role of a Mental Health Nurse

What does a Mental Health Nurse do?

Do you have a way with people from all walks of life? Are you caring and calm in any kind of situation? Then you might have what it takes to become a Mental Health Nurse.

As many as one in three people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives. It's the job of a Mental Health Nurse to help those for whom such problems have become debilitating.

You might work in a hospital setting or in the community, but your main responsibility will be to build relationships with patients, supporting them as they go through the recovery or treatment process.

Day-to-day responsibilities will vary, but this job typically involves:

Helping patients take their medication
Administering general care to patients going through the treatment process
Advising service users about potential therapies or social activities
Liaising with multidisciplinary teams including GPS, social workers and psychiatrists to provide the best possible outcome for patients

Is a career as a Mental Health Nurse right for me?

If you want a standard, nine to five job where pretty much the same thing happens each day, then do not apply. Mental Health Nurses need to be ready for anything and flexible enough to deal with it.

You should also be prepared for evening, weekend and shift work, as patients often need care for 24 hours a day and someone must be available to provide this.

A great Mental Health Nurse will be:

Knowledgeable about mental illness
Warm and engaging
Empathetic with every user of mental health services
Able to stay calm in a crisis
Observant enough to spot potentially problematic situations before they become a problem
Good at communicating with everyone from patients and their families to healthcare experts
Emotionally resilient enough not to take every case home

What's it like to be a Mental Health Nurse?

"Nursing people with mental health issues can be very challenging, but the reward comes from watching a patient completely rebuild their life, partly based on the support you have given them. I know I'm making a real difference when I go to work each day, which isn't something everyone is able to say. I also benefit from being able to work with a fantastic network of people who are always there to offer a word of support when I'm having a tough day."

Get qualified as a Mental Health Nurse

To become a Mental Health Nurse, you'll need to complete a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)-approved nursing degree, specialising in mental health nursing. You'll then need to register with the NMC to practice as a qualified Mental Health Nurse. Additionally, Mental Health Nurses may pursue specialised training or qualifications in areas such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) or dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) to enhance their skills in providing targeted interventions to individuals with specific mental health needs.

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