Free Essay on Serving Veterans as a Mental Health Nurse

How has this presentation influenced the care you will provide to this population? Why?

This presentation has positively influenced me on how I will take good care and be concerned about our veterans' health and life situation. Most people don't realize some of the sacrifices, veterans have made while protecting our country, sisters, countrymen, and women, keeping them safe. They have sacrificed a lot giving up their civilian life to keep their country and people safe when they are positioned overseas (Adamich, 2018). Serving in the military can always be stressful, and can bring some permanent life impact that someone may not have control of. They may then rely on other people for survival (Adamich, 2018).

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Majority of this population, do not always receive health and societal attention needed when they begin developing health issues, both mental and physical (Adamich, 2018). From the presentation, we can deduce that taking care of veterans should be one of our priorities since suicide rates are very high since they are always less likely to find help from mental health professionals. Veterans' behavior and suicidal ideation are mostly caused by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Depression among others and therefore, we should always take good care of our veterans and give the family and communal support (Adamich, 2018).

What cultural implications are associated with this specialty population?

The military cultural background has been the major impact of this particular population. Cultural implication associated by this population includes their core values and beliefs. A military personnel is believed to be a strong individual, selfless, loyal and having personal courage (Adamich, 2018). Their core values and traditions or cultures make them risk their lives for the safety of others. As a result, they find it very difficult to seek mental and physical health in hospitals because they believe that they will be seen as weak individuals which are contrary to their training and working environment they previously in (Adamich, 2018).

What resources are available in your community for this population? What gaps in service do you see? What can be done to address these gaps?

Since most veterans need family, societal support, physical and mental support, some of the resources available in my community for this particular group include mental hospitals such as VA willing to take them through treatment process without pay, communal support and family support by giving donations. There are also diverse continuing learning options for nurses that equip them with the knowledge to handle more effectively the veteran population. Some of the gaps in service I can spot include, failure to have a proper plan of taking care of veterans physically and mentally. There is also lack of support given to these populations once they have retired (Adamich, 2018). To address this gap, government and the society should be at the forefront to establish health resources that will give them health support required. Additionally, society should be giving donations and societal support to make them feel like part of the society (Adamich, 2018).

What more do you need to know in order to best serve this population as a Mental Health NP?

To best serve this population, I believe I should have additional training to have enough training in evidence-based practices. These training like the Veterans Behavioral Health Certificate will definitely help me to be more effectual provider treating veterans. I need to fully understand all the life difficulty that the veterans are going through. Having a clear understanding of the kind of difficulty they go through, will put me in a strategic position on how to approach them and help them solve their health issues.

References

Adamich, T. (2018). Veterans (Librarians) Helping Veterans. Dttp: Documents To The People, 46(3), 15. doi: 10.5860/dttp.v46i3.6827