Nursing is sometimes only seen as a position to help others physically. Nurses aid in surgery, recovery, elderly care, daily care and work with multiple care providers and facilities in helping individuals heal. Beyond their physical capabilities, nurses also play a pivotal role in mental health. There are in fact a multitude of ways nurses can play key role in mental health through a variety of careers.
Essentially, registered nurses learn a great deal about mental health in nursing school itself. There is around 3 months dedicated to mental health studies as well as college prerequisites in basic psychology courses. Hence a nurse already has some understanding of psychology and mental health. Those wishing to go farther have a great opportunity to focus solely on mental health if they wish through a variety of certifications, graduate programs and nurse practitioner titles. Through these programs, nurses can serve in psychiatric wards, work with psychologists and counselors within a facility or even enter into it at a pharmacological level as a nurse practitioner specializing in psychiatric health.
One of the most common certifications is the title of Board Certified Psychiatric Nurse which is earned through the state board of nursing. A nurse who has served at least 2 years under the guidance of a psychiatric professional can obtain this title after meeting all prerequisites and passing the state board exam. Within this capacity, nurses can help serve in psychiatric settings. Many of these nurses who earn this certification also have already obtained a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner license. This requires not only a graduate degree in Nursing but also an emphasis within mental health. These types of Nurse Practitioners can work within mental facilities and prescribe medication for patients. Some states require that the NP work under the guidance of a physician or psychologist while some states allow NPs to work independent and prescribe based on their own merit.
It is not unnatural for many nurses to seek to make this transition. In healthcare, many nurses see the need and demand of better mental healthcare. Many physicians and surgeons are not trained in helping others deal with bad news or death. Many physicians also push the burden upon nurses to tell the family about bad news and refuse themselves to discuss it. Elisabeth Kubler Ross was a pioneer in identifying this weakness in healthcare. She noted that many healthcare providers lacked any type of bed side manner and were unable to explain death and loss to families or the terminally ill. Many in nursing were left with the problem of articulating the loss and explaining the death that had occurred. Hence due to this, many nurses and healthcare providers turned better training in mental health. The healthcare system at the turn of the century began to notice these needs and demands within care facilities. Mental health became more emphasized in nursing and as seen above, certifications and licensures were designed by state nursing boards to meet these needs.
Within this became an awakening in grief counseling and thanatology. Healthcare professionals began to learn more and more about the process of loss and how to better help others with death and dying issues. This not only aided healthcare professionals in difficult discussions with families of the dying but also spread to dedicated practices where nurses and other healthcare professionals were granted the ability to solely help those with death and loss.
While there is still a high demand to train healthcare professionals in grief counseling, thanatology and other mental health issues, there are still many instances where such training is lacking. There is still much to do in regards to better equipping physicians, surgeons, nurses and other healthcare professionals with the necessary knowledge to meet the needs of patients from a mental stand point. This is why certifications are especially critical to healthcare professionals. Certifications in grief counseling, thanatology or other venues of mental health can be easily and quickly earned by busy healthcare professionals. These specialized certifications can also better aid them in acute knowledge and practice in how to help the mental health of their patients.
With rising mental health concerns throughout the world, the demand has never been higher to better equip healthcare professionals with certifications and licensures for healthcare purposes, whether from an acute and sole practice standpoint or as supplemental aid in a primary facility. Some of the largest mental health concerns align with the rise in stress. Political fissures, threats of war, technological pressures, rises in violence and broken families through divorce are all culprits for anxiety, attachment and depression disorders. These disorders once seen as stigma are now being recognized as true health issues.
With such a rise, healthcare needs to respond to the growing problem. The healthcare industry is adding mental health specialists to primary facility teams but also opening up more practices through Nurse Practitioners due to shortages in mental health care teams. Rural areas especially suffer from a lack of mental health accessibility so the importance of nursing to become more mental health attuned is also critical.
Due to the times and needs, nurses interested in mental hence have a unique opportunity to enter into mental health fields. AIHCP looks to help and aid in this call for more training in mental health. AIHCP and its American Academy of Grief Counseling offers a Grief Counseling Certification. This certification was one of the earliest grief counseling certifications to be offered to healthcare professionals. It provides online and independent study opportunities for nurses to enhance their knowledge in grief counseling and apply it to their career.
In addition to grief counseling, AIHCP also offers Pastoral Thanatology, Crisis Intervention, Stress Management, Spiritual Counseling and Anger Management Programs to help health professionals better equip themselves with the mental healthcare knowledge they need to help others. Please review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification, as well as AIHCP’s other programs to better equip your nursing career in mental health needs. There has never been a greater opportunity and demand for nurses to enter into mental health and AIHCP offers certifications for qualified candidates.
Additional Resources
“How to Become a Mental Health Nurse”. Nurse Journal Staff. (2023). NurseJournal. Access here
“What to know about psychiatric nurses”. Huizen, J. (2020). MedicalNewsToday. Access here
“The Psychology of Patient Care: Why Bedside Manner Matters”. Patrick, W. (2023). Psychology Today. Access here
“The Need Keeps Growing for Behavioral and Mental Health Nurses”. Hilton, L. (2021). Nurse.com. Access here