I do not have any nursing certifications yet; however, I would like to have certifications in psychiatric nursing. I work in an adult inpatient psychiatric unit, and I really enjoy it! I have been at my job for less than one year, so I am still learning a lot. Psych is a specialized area, and I would like to learn and acquire more knowledge about the speciality. The nursing certification I would like to hold is psychiatric and mental health nursing certification (PMHN/RN-BC). This is valuable to my personal practice because I can better serve and understand my patients. The certification requires the RN to take tests on topics such as personality disorders and psychotic disorders. These subjects were briefly covered in nursing school, so it would be beneficial to study them more in depth. Certifications are valuable to the nursing profession as a whole because it shows investment and respect for the discipline. Being a nurse requires lifelong learning, and obtaining certifications can help nurses achieve this goal (Wojciechowski, 2017). Of course, more education is usually beneficial to our patients as well, which is the most important thing.
Reference
Wojciechowski, M. (2017). Certified nurses: The importance of becoming certified. Retrieved from https://minoritynurse.com/certified-nurses-the-importance-of-becoming-certified/
I think that it is great that you are looking into a certification and even better that you have an interest in psychiatric nursing. I have a deep respect for nurses that work in this area of nursing. The clinical rotations we did in school were interesting but too uncomfortable for me to handle. I always thought I could handle most situations but I also never thought that when you asked some one the screening mental health questions they give you in nursing school that people actually answered yes to feeling like they want to kill themselves and yes that had a plan.
Good for you that you work in psychiatric nursing! It seems like the need for psychiatric nurses are growing. There are so many different types of nursing and certifications that one can obtain. What a great profession we have chosen. Psych nursing was never my favorite rotation in nursing clinical, however I have a great admiration for those that can do it. I suppose some would say the same about my specialty of wound care.
By obtaining a certificaion, we are improving our knowledge and patient care which results in better patient outcomes.
There are a lot of smaller facilities that haven’t implemented or encouraged certification. The first hospital I worked at, none of the nurses on the med surg floor were certified. They were all great nurses still, but there was no incentive for them to do it, so none of them took the time to do it. Certification is something to be encouraged, no matter how small the facility is, because it improves nursing as a profession. The exams seem like they are tough, and I’m sure it takes a lot of time and dedication to attain the certification.