The definition of choice, in my case, is fairly straightforward and does not require undue thought. The primary goal of wanting to help people is at the heart of any conscious decision to become a nurse, in my opinion. That said, in my particular situation, the final factors were a passion for people’s mental health and learning how to normalize it. After some reflection in the process of determining a major, I made the decision to specialize in psychiatric nursing. Such a speciality may have several reasons for its attractiveness – solving problems of people with mental disorders and determining methods of medication or pharmacological intervention in such situations (Karaca et al., 2019). That said, interactions with other healthcare professionals in the context of sharing experiences and collaborating in patient care are equally valuable (Clark & Emerson, 2021). Such professionals can represent a variety of fields, ranging from community therapists to social workers and everyone involved in the rehabilitation process.
One of the biggest challenges involved matching the topic of research and work as closely as possible to my own interests. The overall mental health assessment usually has to look at the various nursing specialities to determine the most appropriate one (Daniel & Daniel, 2020). Factors of potential earnings, career development, and ease of employment were not the least of these considerations. Additional concerns included specific knowledge set requirements and certifications in the speciality that required effort to obtain.
One prominent professional organization is the American Nurses Association, and partially related to other mental health organizations. Membership is contingent upon working in the psychiatric industry, a general ANA fee, and an additional fee for wanting to be in the ANA Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses. Factors in my commitment to my future profession that allowed me to affiliate with such organizations were my desire to make a positive impact on people’s lives and to help people with psychological disorders. Thus, the desire to help and participate in the normalization of a person’s mental state was the determining factor in my choice of profession field.
References
Clark, M., & Emerson, A. (2021). Spirituality in psychiatric nursing: A concept analysis. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 27(1), 22–32. Web.
Daniel, V., Dr, & Daniel, K., Dr. (2020). Perception of nurses’ work in psychiatric clinic. Clinical Medicine Insights, 27–33. Web.
Karaca, A., Yildirim, N., Cangur, S., Acikgoz, F., & Akkus, D. (2019). Relationship between mental health of nursing students and coping, self-esteem and social support. Nurse Education Today, 76, 44–50. Web.