Earning the Doctor of Nursing Practice - Essay Example

I am currently working as an inpatient psychiatric nurse at the Green Oaks Psychiatric Hospital where I have been working for more than a year and have volunteered at the Great Mission Rehab for the homeless and for psychiatric patients. Prior to my job at Green Oaks, I had worked as a medical and surgical nurse but I find more fulfillment working as a psychiatric nurse. As a psychiatric nurse, I have more opportunities to connect with my patients by understanding their feelings and emotions, understanding the meaning behind their stories and finding explanations for their psychiatric problems. I define my patients holistically, by their total personality, as a whole person, and not by the disorder that afflicted them.

In my experience as an inpatient Psychiatric RN, I have come to know the prevalence of mental disorders and it affects all ages. If not treated on time, serious mental disorders could be totally disabling and could be a source of pain for the whole family, and a loss to society.

I have also known that medicines alone cannot heal a person with a mental problem. Collaboration between healthcare professionals, a combination of healthcare approaches, and loving support from the family is crucial to the healing process.

Mental health is very important and must be safeguarded. This means that to be healthy does not only mean that one is physically fit, and is free from disease. Mental health is the condition of the mind, the capacity to think well and to make informed decisions. An individual needs to be mentally fit to cope up with day-to-day stress, maintain lasting relationships, be productive, and be of value to society. Therefore mental healthcare professionals like me, play a significant role in promoting a truly healthy society.

I saw countless opportunities to serve society as a Psychiatric RN, and therefore I wish to focus my educational and professional plans in this field. In the future, I can see myself specializing in family psychiatric and mental health nursing, and be more involved or have more autonomy in planning and deciding therapeutic programs for my patients. I can see myself incorporating more family therapy as part of my treatment program knowing that support from the family largely contributes to recovery.

Earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from the School of Alabama will provide me with intensive skill, training, and knowledge to prepare me to serve the less privileged in the community by opening up a private practice in the rural area, educating families on the symptoms of mental illness and the ways to prevent and control these symptoms. Practicing mental health nursing close to the rural community would enable me to deliver needed mental healthcare services and find more happiness in serving and saving the lives of the poorest in the community. Furthermore, I can see myself actively promoting mental health education and wellness activities in the rural community. Prevention is better than therapeutic treatment.

Finally, I am hoping that the School of Alabama would give me the opportunity to realize my professional goals in the field of mental health by accepting my application for admission to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).