• Reflections on mentoring and interprofessional collaboration.Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) tackle the daily mental and emotional burdens of their patients. The weight of […]

    • Hello Dera,

      I think you brought up an exceptional and much needed topic regarding the mental health of PMHNPs and/or DNPs. Struggling with mental health has become less of a stigma through the years, but individuals still have the fear of looking incompetent or unknowledgeable with in their given specialty, causing more mental stress than need be. I do agree that universities provide more resources to help support in any mental stress compared to employers, but I believe seeking help and support always starts with the individual itself. As a current registered nurse in a psychiatric outpatient facility, there are boundaries that I always have to remember when treating patients. Autonomy is still number one and if the individual is not prepared to obtain or seek support, that they have that right to do so. Now in regards to mentorship becoming a support for newly employed DNPs/PMHNPs, I find that to be a very helpful program to be implemented within all employment. It is unfortunate to say but most newly graduate nursing/ post graduate nursing jobs do not get full and proper training and having a mentorship program seems efficient in theory. That is why RN residencies are becoming more and more common for new nurses. The barriers I see though is that these residencies come with a very low pay rate compared to regular nursing positions and I believe individuals would rather take the increased pay with less training than a pay cut with more training. There are issues that arise with this topic, but I believe your point discussed is something needing more research and preparation for it to be successful but is definitely a topic to continue to be discussed.

    • Dear Dera Harvey,

      As we see more mental health issues, especially in the wake of COVID-19, every APRN needs behavioral health care experience. As a healthcare providers, we need to understand how to care for mental health patients, which presents unique challenges, as the patient’s emotional problems may be less visible than physiologic ones. In the Ethiopian community, mental issues are increasing. Many of the patients are young adults. Most of them are confronting depression. Biological, psychological, and social factors are more prominent causes than drugs or alcohol in Ethiopian immigrant cases. Social factors (environmental, social, work, and relationships) seem to be the leading cause of mental illness in Ethiopian immigrants’ lives.

      As an advanced healthcare provider, I have been interested in discovering the specific social factors leading to these mental disorders. These people have been coming from other countries with huge expectations such as, “Life is so easy in America,” and so on. When faced with the realities of American life, their expectations don’t match, and they become overstressed, leading to depression. As an FNP, understanding and identifying mental health problems is very important. APRNs’ goal in the community is to spotlight the issues and teach them the preventative modalities to function in society before and after mental illness has been significant. As an APRN, the ultimate goal is to improve healthcare on a local and international level continuously. I believe that APRNs’ path through advanced education will eventually be the key to unlocking the doors of improved healthcare.

  • Dera Harvey became a registered member 2 years, 11 months ago