The purpose of this essay is to provide personal background information, including: 1) the aspects of my background that led me to seeking a Masters in Nursing and psychiatry as a clinical NP specialty; 2) my practice interests; 3) the skills and knowledge that I hope to attain from the Family Psychiatric Mental Health (FPMH) NP Program; and lastly 4) my career goals upon completing this program. Firstly, formal education represented liberation from the poverty, disparity and forlornness that characterized my formative years. In 1958, my mother and her parents arrived from rural Puerto Rico to the South Bronx section of New York City. Speaking only Spanish, having never graduated from high school, being a single parent, and having her first psychotic break when I was in Kindergarten, all contributed to my mother raising me on public assistance; Although poor and formally uneducated, my family instilled the importance of education, a desire to serve others, a strong work ethic, accountability, perseverance and a sense of integrity. Nonetheless, the disparities between the world in which I lived in and that of the world of affluence in Manhattan became readily apparent to me. Pregnant at the age of 16; Nevertheless, I persevered to be the first in my family to obtain a college and a graduate degree. Influenced by my tenacity, my daughter attended Columbia University and SUNY Upstate …show more content…
Married to a physician, we had the resources for me to stay home for 15 years in order to care for our two special needs children; Albeit, we experienced a paucity of mental health providers. Our daughter has High Functioning Autism and graduated from Alfred University in 2016, and our son has Social Anxiety, and is a college sophomore. During these 15 years, I assisted in the formulation of educational 504 modification plans, by virtue of my experience in psychiatric
This experience is the very foundation in which my aspirations are rooted, fostering changes both professionally and academically. My objectives include caring for others in a setting that reaches out to communities, with a focus on the Hispanic community. Becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner, I will be able to holistically care for children, adults, and seniors; an important aspect of Hispanic culture. Education is crucial to personal and professional growth; with this in mind I look forward to instilling the love and compassion I have for nursing to future nursing
The documentary, First Generation, follows four first generation college students who try and balance the hardships of working, sports, being part of a lower socioeconomic status and handling the challenges of learning how to apply and cover the cost of hefty college tuitions. In this paper, I will discuss barriers that some students experienced, the benefits of attainting a college education as a first generation student and some of the challenges individuals faced once they were accepted into college.
Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and
Stuart, G. W. (2009). Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing (9th ed. pp 561). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
A week before Christmas in 2013, my stepfather suddenly lost consciousness. His body stiffened and he began to violently convulse – he was having a seizure. Later in the hospital, the doctors informed us that my stepdad had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. The anguish that I felt that night was eased by a nurse who talked to my family about my stepfather’s condition and assured us that the hospital would do everything that they can to assist him with recovery. The next few weeks were filled with uncertainty as my stepdad laid comatose, no knowledge of when or even if he would wake up. During that time, my interactions with the nurses always made me feel safe and comforted Unfortunately, he passed away in January 2014. Though this was a traumatic and life altering experience, what I remember most are the nurses that provided care to my stepfather. They went above and beyond their outlined job duties to care for my loved one and to make my family feel secure even in such a difficult time.
These children had the worst histories I have seen in mental health nursing. The opportunity to work with this population was the most difficult and honorable thing I have done in my life. Part of my goal as a nurse practitioner will be to work with the underserved and difficult populations that others are not willing to work with. The next four years I spent floating around seven different units at CenterPointe Hospital. Some of the units include adult detox unit, geriatrics, acute adult, chemical dependency residential programs, and adolescent units. Child and adolescents are my passion but working with dual diagnosis, acute adults and geriatric/dementia populations gave me a well-rounded experience. I have also worked the last 3 years PRN as an eating disorder nurse. This vast experience working with every psychiatric population has taught me much about psychiatric disorders and provided me with balanced work history. In addition, I have worked as charge nurse of these units and gained leadership skills. I intent to use the experience and knowledge from my nursing career to help me assess, diagnose and treat, as a nurse
This article was written by several well educated professionals in the nursing field. The article appears in a peer reviewed nursing journal that covers topics in psychiatric and mental health nursing that has a 37-year history. The sources history, along with the use of various references from other professional sources establish the journal entries
There are a lot of reasons why I chose to pursue pharmacy as my career and they all point to the most important reason: pharmacy is a great fit for my life and is something I have become increasingly passionate about. It started when I was researching careers with my parents and my dad suggested pharmacy and, simply put, it sparked my interest because at the time it was one of the few things I thought I would not hate doing. A healthcare career has always been where I put myself in the future, mainly because most of my family members are in the healthcare field. However, I have never been one that could directly help the wounded or deal with anything gory, but am very intrigued by the growing science of pharmacy. As I continue exploring pharmacy, the more I enjoy learning about it and feel like I could excel in this career.
Rather than preparing graduates in education or consulting as previous graduate nursing programs had done, this program educated psychiatric-mental health nurses as therapists with the ability to assess and diagnose mental health issues as well as psychiatric disorders and treat them via individual, group, and family therapy (ANA, 2014). Thus, the Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (PMH-CNS), one of the initial advanced practice nursing roles (Schmidt, 2013), was born. After Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963 led to deinstitutionalization of individuals with mental illness, PMH-CNSs played a crucial role in reintegrating formerly institutionalized individuals back into community life (ANA, 2014). PMH-CNSs have been providing care in a wide range of setting and obtaining third-party reimbursement since the late 1960’s. In 1974 a national certification for PMH-CNSs was created (APNA, 2010). Subsequently, PMH-CNSs began to be granted prescriptive privileges in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1970s, that practice has now spread to 37 states and the District of Columbia (APNA,
Whoosh!A bed whizzed by, surrounded by about 6 medical personnel. “What’s going on?” I thought immediately with apprehension. I knew whatever was happening it was not ideal. Ensuring I was not in the way, I stood on my toes to see what demanded so much attention. To my astonishment, I saw a coin sized hot-pink little girl. She could not have been bigger than two quarters lying side by side.She was struggling! Even with all the procedures the doctors were executing to save her life, she was performing the most work.
Dr. Hildegard E. Peplau, one of the world's leading nurses and theorists who is known to the world as the mother of psychiatric nursing, was born into an immigrant family in Reading Pennsylvania, USA in 1909 ( Sills, 2007). The devastating flu epidemic of 1918 influenced Dr. Peplau’s understanding and the impact of illness and death on families ( Sills, 2007). As a result, Dr. Peplau decided to attend nursing school. In 1931 she received her diploma from Pottstown Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Sills, 2007).Soon after graduation she began her career as a staff nurse in Pennsylvania and New York City (Sills, 2007). After becoming the school nurse at Bennington College in Vermont, Peplau earned her Bachelor’s degree in interpersonal psychology, in 1943 ( Sills, 2007). She then started working in a private psychiatric facility. During the world war second (1943-1945) Dr. peplau served in the Army Nurse Corps and was assigned to the Field Station Hospital in England, where the American School of Military Psychiatry was located ( Sills, 2007). It was during the war that Dr. Peplau enhanced her nursing knowledge and practice through direct participation in both learning and practicing. In 1947 Dr. Peplau received her masters and doctoral degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University ( Sills, 2007). In 1954 she was certified in psychoanalysis by the William Alanson White Institute of New York City ( Sills,2007). In the early 1950s, she developed and taught the first classes for graduate psychiatric nursing students at Teachers College ( Sills, 2007). From 1954- 1974 Dr. Peplau was a member of the faculty of the College of Nursing at Rutgers University ( Sills, 2007).There she created the first graduate ...
Please discuss the following items in the order given. Briefly respond to all areas listed.
Varcarolis, E. M., Carson, V. B., & Shoemaker, N. C. (2006). In Foundations of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing (p. 283). St. Louis: Elsevier Inc.
The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP), role and job description is providing primary mental health care services, to those with mental health problems, or psychiatric disorders. The PMHNP is required to assess, diagnose, provide treatment plans, prescribe medication therapy, and offer counsel across the lifespan. The PMHNP provides care in a wide range of settings to children, adolescents, adults, the elderly, and their families. This mental healthcare takes place in the primary care settings, emergency rooms, hospitals, outpatient mental health clinics, senior living communities and in private practices. Being culturally competent to care for the ever changing demographics of the United States is necessary. The PMHNP assess and treats in a holistic manor and utilizes evidenced based practice. Regardless of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, political persuasion, or socio economic standing the PMHNP is there to treat. The PMHNP role also includes establishing a therapeutic relationship, being sensitive to many abnormal behaviors, and caring for those frequently distressed emotionally. Collaboration and the ability to make referrals are essential for the PMHNP. Patients present with undiagnosed problems and establishing the proper diagnosis by a qualified PMHNP begins with the initial assessment interview (Gilfedder, Barron, & Docherty, 2010).
Her educational background includes a diploma as a Registered Nurse from People’s Hospital School of Nursing in Ohio (1947), Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Major in Mental Health/Public Health, Minor in Psychology, from University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) (1957), and Master of Science in Mental Health from UCLA (1966). She became engaged in a graduate work for UCLA in the Mental Health/Public Health Consultation where she gained interest in community mental health as an emerging avenue for nursing practice. She was eventually appointed as the chair for UCLA’s Mental Health/Public Health Program and began teaching and developing a course to help graduate students focus on specific nursing problem areas. The outcomes of her labor led to the development of Neuman Systems Model (NSM) which focused on the client-environment interaction. Furthermore, Neuman’s mental health consultant role was not specified as nursing role, thus, influenced NSM’s applicability to various health professions and other