Mental Health Nursing

Hospital

A mental health nurse working in a hospital environment is commonly referred to as a ‘staff nurse’ or when leading a shift, they’re referred to as the ‘Nurse in charge’. As a staff nurse you would work as part of a ward team to deliver care and treatment to patients who are in an acute mental health crisis but are too high of a risk to themselves or the public to be supported at home. Patients can be admitted and treated in hospital either informally or they can be admitted, detained and treated under UK Mental Health law known as the Mental Health Act 1983.

You will be responsible for assessing patients mental health and work in partnership with them and/or their families or carers to develop a care plan of support and treatment to help them get better. You will also be responsible for supporting your patients physical health and wellbeing. On some shifts you will be in charge of the ward and will also work closely with other members of your ward team such as psychiatrists, occupational therapists, psychologists, students and health care support workers to establish pathways for individualised care and maintain a safe therapeutic environment on the ward through group work, 1:1 patient time, multi-disciplinary reviews. Usually there are around 15-20 patients on a ward and the shift patterns you will work will either be: long days, weekends, and nights.

Community

Community mental health nurses carry a caseload of between 15-25 patients and are responsible for coordinating their package of care whilst they are under your care. You will be expected to work closely with other service providers such as the general practitioner, social services, and charities to help you deliver care to your patients. You will also build relationships with the patient’s families or carer to help monitor their mental health, assess for signs of relapse, know what potential triggers they experience and support the patient to engage in meaningful activities in the community.

Whilst the goal is always to support and treat your patient at home, unfortunately on some occasions this can’t always be possible due them being too unwell to be treated at home, and you will be expected to work with other mental health professionals in arranging their admission to hospital, either informally or sometimes as a last resort under UK mental health law, known as the mental health act 1983.

The working pattern for community mental health nursing is usually Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, however depending on if you are working in a specialist community team, shifts can involve long days, nights, and weekends. You will need to be comfortable with traveling to visit your patients whether this is via walking or through the use of the car depending on location.