Barcelona City Council | Capital humà

Nurse specialised in psychiatric nursing care; psychiatric and mental health nurse

The psychiatric nurse lends assistance to the person, family and community to help promote and boost mental health, prevent illness and deal with bouts of stress and mental illness, as well as assisting the above in readjusting and finding meaning in said experiences. The differentiating features of a psychiatric nurse is his/her career orientation, which basically revolves around interpersonal relations between nurse and patient or patient groups. Makes use of this relationship as the main therapeutic work tool, initiating, promoting and maintaining a relationship based on mutual help between the nurse and the person, family or group receiving cares, for a specific period of time. During this period, the psychiatric nurse focuses his/her activities around the needs and problems of the person, family or group through the use of therapeutic knowledge, attitudes and skills typical of this occupation. A psychiatric nurse operates in the inpatient department (psychiatric hospitalisation centres, psychiatric wards in general hospitals and other units within the general hospital in which his/her advice helps other professionals to handle the patients' emotional disturbances) and in the community (outpatient care, day hospital, night-time hospital, daycare centres and in the home). This is the person in charge of psychiatric nursing care and of the nursing team which is made up of the psychiatric nurse, psychiatric nursing assistants, nursing care and postgraduate students in training, and nurses with an occasional involvement in the care process.

• In terms of assistance, he/she is the person in charge of mental health care, given that he/she directs the nursing care process across its different stages (assessment of needs, nursing diagnoses, patient care planning, execution and assessment of the care process).
  Promote, prevent, maintain and rehabilitate the mental health of the community and see to its care.
  Evaluate individual, family and group situations in hospitals and in outpatient situations.
  Identify and evaluate mental health disorders.
  Assess available resources in the area in which patients are cared for and manage and distribute these resources.
  Seek to ensure a healthy and safe environment, taking into account the situation of the patient and available resources.
  Develop a health care plan suited to treatment goals, activities and criteria in each situation.
  Provide nursing care to individuals, family and the community with mental health problems.
  Identify bioethical problems and apply reasoning and critical thinking in subsequent analysis and resolution.
  Channel toward other professionals the situations that require such channelling.
  Assesses the development of the different stages of the care-taking process, introducing necessary corrective elements to ensure the effectiveness of nursing care.
• Perform tasks related to education.
  Teach patients and their families to develop self-care abilities and techniques aimed at obtaining an optimal state of health.
  Provide advice and support to general nurses and other specialist nurses to help complete the relevant care plan and improve interpersonal relationships.
  Organise training for basic and specialised nursing students under his or her responsibility.
  Help teach mental health care to other workers and people in the community.
  Participate in teaching at nursing schools and other schools related to this speciality.
  Direct the speciality of mental health nursing, lecturing in the education of relevant topics.
  Direct and participate in teaching at schools for psychiatric nursing aids.
  Promote, participate in and direct continuing education in mental health nursing in the various areas in which nurses work.
• Perform management duties with the following tasks:
  Help develop mental health policies, both nationally and locally, and participate in the development of mental health services with duties specific to the profession.
  Help develop mental health systems in accordance with the mental health nursing team's criteria.
  Assume professional leadership and propose the planning, development and implementation of mental health programmes.
• Conduct research projects that help optimise the quality of care and professional development.
  Contribute to advances in the profession through exchanging and discussing research carried out in the mental health field.

Regulated training and graduates

• Grau: Infermeria

Complementary training

Other specific skills

Self-control: Level 3

Analytical thought: Level 2

Initiative: Level 3

Empathy: Level 3

Leadership: Level 2

Customer orientation: Level 2

Healthcare

Working to maintain and improve health, as well as physical and mental well-being, is the primary interest of people who are involved in the field of healthcare. Some of the activities in this field include making diagnoses, prescribing treatments and monitoring illnesses and injuries. These activities also include the application of therapeutic treatments (traditional or alternative) with a view to facilitating the physical recovery of those being treated. To carry out these activities, one must have in-depth knowledge of the human body and medicine, in its various specialisations.

Social community worker

Individuals related to the social/community field have an interest in working to improve people's social well-being and quality of life, as well as enhance their integration into their social, family and/or work environment. The professional activities that are common in this field include providing special support and aid to people at risk of social exclusion, designing programmes and implementing resources for the social and cultural stimulation of an area, and acting as mediators for conflict resolution in family, social or interpersonal environments. These activities involve constant interaction with people in order to improve their psychological and social well-being.

Nurse of the Critically Ill

Carer of Alzheimer Patients

Eating Disorder Therapist

End-of-life caregiver

Emergency care community nurse

• Work hours

  Usually full-time, with morning, afternoon or night-time work schedules. Some centres have shift rota in some units or services. Some centres require 24/7 coverage all year round. Recent graduates stand a better chance of being recruited during holiday periods and for weekend and night-shift work.

• Salary

  Junior: between 16.223 and 23.758 euros annum gross. Median: 19.632 euros annum gross.
  Senior: between 24.586 and 34.508 euros annum gross. Median: 29.126 euros annum gross.
  
  Source: Report "Observatory of Jobs and Salaries of the Labour Market. Barcelona Activa", elaborated by ICSA Grupo. April 2015.