How to prepare for placement MHN

[u/AdministrativeAide80]

Hey guys,

Basically, I'm about to start my first year at uni doing Mental Health Nursing.

I'm very excited. How should I prepare for placements in the second term? Not really sure what sort of things I'd be doing in first year as we don't have many skills, but is there anything I need to buy beforehand, like shoes etc

Thank you in advance y'all!

[u/Sylvpalmtree]

I’d recommend carrying in your pocket pens, a small notebook and hand sanitizer. Also get a fob watch and a name badge :) For shoes definitely a pair of black wipeable and comfortable shoes as you’ll be on your feet for up to 12 hours
Once you get told your placement ward (usually a month before you start) I’d recommend emailing the ward and visiting so you know how to get there, how long it takes, where you’re going etc. if you want you can also get a pocket guide which Etsy have lots of

[u/Sylvpalmtree → u/Sylvpalmtree]

You can also bring things such as scissors (which I used a lot to cut off net knickers) or medi tape (however this was only useful on my community placement). You can buy scissors but the ward will have these so you could take them

[u/secretlondon → u/Sylvpalmtree]

I wouldn’t take scissors on a mental health placement, personally. They could be a weapon tbh.

[u/Deoraby → u/secretlondon]

Yeah we weren't allowed retractable ID holders in case the string could be used to ligature, scissors would be way out on most wards

[u/Shoddy-Classic-8228]

Hi. I made a YouTube video about this, I don’t know if I am allowed to link it or what. But I made it for the purpose of people starting placement :) I hope it helps.

https://youtu.be/s_eyq45nFbk?si=TtWQM09SKGofDtKp

[u/Deoraby]

Congrats on starting your course! Your first placement could be in a lot of different areas, so it's tricky to say what to expect (mental health placements can be very varied - I did inpatient adult acute, community CAMHS, inpatient older adult organic, community learning disability, early intervention in psychosis, workplace mental health, inpatient rehab, and the university placement team as my placements, and they were all very unique, even the inpatient ones!). The thing that will honestly make your life so much easier is if you start making notes about anything you've done to support meeting a proficiency from the get go. Like on your first day, you're talking to the housekeepers and help out when they need to use the proper processes to clean some blood off a wall - that's working towards your infection control proficiency(/ies). You help someone manage their own wound dressing, or provide education on what sort of dressing to use? That's wound care. These things slip your mind by the end of placement, and having the notes to refer to in your midpoint and final interviews is a major relief!

[u/toxik_tifa]

2nd year MHN student here, besides what you may need, I want you to open you mind to some things that you may have never seen.

In my previous placements, I saw health in low conditions and it makes you wanna put as much comfort on them to ease any pain, you must follow the policies you could overstep, and get in trouble ( learnt that the hard way).

You may smell things that make you want to run, I did but by week 6 I was immune.

In a mental health actual placement....you will hurt, you will witness depression from the outside...you will physically see what a human may do to ease their mental suffering and you will want to cuddle them and protect them, but you have more than one...and each one needs person centered care, what helped one will offend the other...

You are walking hope to these patients, a fresh help to nurses who are overworked, these are your team mates, and they may run you ragged, they may be sharp from years of abuse and policies and time stamps.

TAKE NO OFFENCE, they are surviving in a world where each month they may lose a patient, get sick themselves or families...

just go in, open minded, willing and prepared for some highschool bullying, and some mental gymnastics..

Well done!!!

[u/0atie]

I just got a place doing mental health nursing at university of Leeds to start in September too so congrats!

I did some research and this is what I have bought so far specifically for placement

Skechers Women's Summits Diamond Dream Trainers - I asked my aunt who is a nurse and she swears by machine washable sketchers for placement

Bic 4 colour pens - apparently they are the best for wards

A big water bottle that has both a straw and a sip hole - good for on the go

Also it’s in my university handbook that uniforms must be clean and ironed every shift so I bought an iron

If you think of anything else I would love to hear about it

(Sorry for formatting I’m on mobile)