This page has information on the personal characteristics and skills needed for mental health nursing.
Your personality and communication skills are crucial components of being a mental health nurse. You’ll need a good knowledge of mental health problems and how to apply it in practice.You’ll be warm and engaging while showing real empathy with service users and their individual circ*mstances. This may include the social stigma of mental health problems which can be as equally hard to overcome.
Thinking on your feet and staying calm are also useful traits of a mental health nurse. You’ll also use a number of other skills on a daily basis, including
- problem solving
- good judgement
- offering advice
- observational
- interpersonal communication
- psychosocial.
Values and behaviours
You'll also need to have the right values and behaviours to become a nurse. HEIs and employers will test you on your values as part of any application to a degree programme or job.
Find out more about the NHS values.
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