Being a Mental Health Provider

¶ … joy than that of serving those who need our services most. I enjoy working with patients. What drives my interest in mental health is not the salary or perks that come with jobs in this field -- rather, it is the professional satisfaction that comes with improving the lives of others. Being a Reservist Trauma nurse in the USN, I have had the rare opportunity of serving my country in a very unique way.

In addition to closely working with those actively engaged in defending our country, I have also met and interacted with civilians in diverse settings. To some extent, my growing interest in mental health has largely been informed by my interaction with individuals having a wide range of mental health problems. For instance, during my deployment to Afghanistan, I encountered, first hand, the effects of trauma and other mental health problems on the minds of those affected.

Most of those I interacted with in the course of my professional engagement had wounded or killed others, had seen others killed or badly hurt, or had at some point been forced to stay awake and alert for long periods of time. Such factors and occurrences significantly increased the affected individuals' chances of developing a wide range of mental health problems and PTSD. It is on the basis of my interactions with those affected in one way or another that I gained the prerequisite experience in the mental health arena.

During this time, some of the professional nursing roles I played included, but they were not limited to, managing triage, and checking vitals. I was also actively involved in the restoration of hope amongst those under my care. I am presently in Germany where I am working with the wounded warriors. Here, I work as part of a team actively engaged in the provision of high quality nursing care to wounded warriors.

In addition to restoring the hopes of these heroes, we also implement strategies aimed at reducing their predisposition to mental health problems. Combat returnees are amongst those who experience extensive physiological problems and it is for this reason that they are highly susceptible to disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, panic disorder, etc. I immensely enjoy my current responsibilities.

In addition to elevating my credentials, a Postgraduate in Mental Health will enable me to apply the most recent medical advances in the area of mental health so as to offer better patient care. My civilian job, an ER RN, has familiarized me with the treatment of mental health patients in the ER. I must say that both my civilian job and my engagement with the USN have effectively equipped me with unrivalled versatility and crucial expertise in the area of mental health. Being a Certified Family Nurse.