Nursing Careers - What Is Mental Health Nursing?

Mental health nursing is a field of nursing that delves into psychiatry, caring and assisting mentally challenged people. A mentally ill individual requires a lot of caring, empathy compassion and support in addition to administering treatment. Since mental patients are often stigmatized, supporting them and making them feel important restores normalcy the patient had before hisher illness. Common mental disorders include Alzheimer's, dementia, bipolar disorder and epilepsy. A complete list of mental ailments can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
The stigma associated with mental health is gradually reducing thus there is an increase in the demand for mental health nurses and psychiatrists. A mental health career is satisfactory personally and financially it has its perks even though it is complex and demanding as it involves dealing with the human mind. Nurses specializing in this field have been quoted as earning over $80,000 dollars a year besides having same number of titles as a doctor.
Mental health nurses are required to have an impeccable knowledge of human behavior in order to be able to handle violent patients. They also need to have knowledge of the law as it will benefit them when dealing with police or other relevant authorities.
To become a mental health nurse one is required to possess communication and interaction skills such as listening, talking and writing in addition to knowing medicine and anatomy. One is required to also be empathetic and understanding because of the nature of patients being dealt with. Mental patients need help in doing ordinary tasks such as bathing, grooming or engaging in leisure activities. They need to express their thoughts like everyone else so a nurse should be prepared to listen to them without being judgmental. The nurse should also be prepared to support the patients through therapy in order to ensure their recovery. Thus one should carefully consider why he/she should become a mental health nurse and not do it just because of the money.
The career path to becoming a mental health nurse requires four years degree training course and to be a registered nurse. The syllabus includes biology, nursing theory, stigma, discrimination, law and policy, psychotherapy, developmental psychology, team- working and care management. After that, you need a master's degree in order to become anAdvanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) or Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP).

Improving Your Memory and Mental Health

Memory is a large component of good mental health. Without it, we'd forget phone numbers, people's names, or freeze up on a test. Of course, many of us do this anyway - I know I do quite frequently. So how can someone improve their mental health through memory? Here are some great ideas and exercises to get you started:
Mental Health: Repetition
The easiest and probably most well known way of memorizing someone's name is to repeat it several times during a conversation. For instance, when meeting or leaving someone, use their name casually. By saying someone's name out loud several times, while having that person right in front of you, your brain will connect the name with the person, and cement the information.
Mental Health: Visualization
Creating images in your head that use the item that you are trying to remember is another mental health technique. Take someone's name that you don't want to forget, and imagine it being written in neon lights across that person's forehead. The more outrageous the idea, the better!
Mental Health: Associations
Make a mental association to remember someone's name. For instance, if your friend Lou has long hair, you could say her name over and over again in your head as "Lou with the long hair". I find that picturing people doing something that they've discussed they enjoy helps, too. So, Bob the violinist, Sarah the gardener, or chef Alex are all good ways to try and remember someone.
Mental Health: Pictures
When attending large functions with a great number of people, take pictures, and make a note of everyone's name. Then, once the pictures are developed, you can refer back to the evidence as required for your own personal mental health.
Mental Health: Mnemonic Devices
Mnemonic devices are a mental health game that allows the user to remember names, speeches, test information, or other items that need to be remembered. The most common of the mnemonic devices are acronyms. Acronyms are words that are created by using the first letter of a series of words. For instance, MADD equals Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and USA equals the United States of America. Both are acronyms. Make up your own to use to help with mental health memory.
Mental Health: Acrostics
Acrostics are quite similar to acronyms in the mental health memory game, but instead they use the first letters in a sentence, such as "Every good boy does fine", which is used to remember the letters in the treble clef in music. People with a bad memory can create their own acrostics to remember items they would normally forget.
All of these methods can be used regardless of the situation - at work, home, business or school. The mental health skill of being able to recall places, things, people or events is a strong precursor to personal strength and intelligence.

The Many Community Mental Health Services Available to You

Well developed and well managed community mental health services are actually associated with low suicide rates. Hence, mental health services for the masses can be improved by focusing on the community based and specialized mental health services.
If ever you are in need of mental health services, you can contact your local affiliates of the national self help organizations or the local mental health center. Most of these agencies have the relevant information on the various services designed to meet the different needs of those who are suffering from different types of disorders such as anxiety conditions, panic disorders, schizophrenia, etc. Apart from these, they also provide information related to community mental health services designed specifically for children, refugees, HIV infected patients, the elderly, etc. Here are a list of various community health services available for your use.
Mental health act has provided a great opportunity in rendering different kinds of community care based upon individual needs. The provision of good residential accommodation for various groups of mentally disordered or patients with disorders who need constant care by the government aided agencies is a step towards enhancing the community health services.
Generally community health services treat or support people suffering with mental disorders in a domiciliary setting instead of placing them in a hospital or a psychiatric asylum. The various services offered by these community services usually differ from country to country. Most of the community services consist of psychiatric wards similar to that of a hospital. These services are mostly rendered by professionals and government organizations. According to the world health organization, community services are very easy to access by a wide range of people and are quite effective and even aid in reducing social exclusion.
When compared to private mental hospital, community services are less likely to have possibilities for the violation and neglect of human rights which are rarely encountered in few of the mental hospitals. These community services also play an important role in educating the people about the various common disorders and their corresponding symptoms. This way, people gain knowledge on various disorders and can easily recognize individuals who may be suffering from these disorders but might not really be aware of them. Aged and older people who require constant attention, can get benefited by these community services, instead of paying huge bills at private hospitals, they can get good care at the community services.
With the population in the older age group on the rise, there is need for the development of community mental health services in various localities. Also, with many specialists willing to volunteer at the community services, clients can gain a lot of benefits. Since, most of the mental health disorders occurrence do not have a clear reason behind them, the treatment usually is a long term one and for people who cannot afford highly expensive treatments and consultations, community mental health services is the best place to choose. With government pitching in to provide funds for them, it is time people think of visiting them when needed.