Post by lucie on Jun 7, 2016 13:07:48 GMT
It has been an amazing journey being part of The Mental Health Nursing Graduate Program of 2015. I had mixed emotions about this program. I was very excited as I knew I was going to learn a great deal about mental health disorders but this did not stop me from feeling very nervous at the same time as I had little understanding of what mental health is all about, dealing with clients with mental illness, their conditions/diagnosis as well as available treatment options. With the stigma that exists regarding mental health; clients are labelled as different and stereotyped as deviants with negative or difficult behaviour traits and dangerous. As a high level of stigma exist in the general population, I entered on this program with these shared feelings, emotions and negative views towards mental illness due to my inexperience and lack of knowledge. Deep down I believed that I am a considerate person who can nurse people in a non-judgemental and caring manner.
My biggest learning from this year has to be my grown on understanding that recovery requires self-awareness, drive and acceptance to operate the box in improving quality of care. I personally consider the process is unique, a continuum of expectations, attitudes and values, fruitful of conception description entwined with a variety of characteristics representing one’s perception. Therefore, recovery is a personal choice flourishing on how much the individual sits on the continuum of hope, growth and change. As health professionals, we develop an unconscious awareness that enables us to build on using our thoughts and experiences, the ability to enter the perceptual world of another person. This personal choice usually challenges our expectations on meeting the highly valued outcomes. Throughout this journey, I have had the honour of getting to know different people and their stories, and I can definitely say that not one story is the same. Therefore, I have learnt that their individuality is the key to finding the right direction in enabling footsteps in finding hope and pathway to their own recovery journey.