Transformative Care; Treatment of Mental Illness
It is the courage and strength of both the sick and the health care providers who fight so valiantly for their future that has fostered my dream of pursuing a career in healthcare and my application to the University of Alabama. The opportunity to learn from a vast array of talented individuals is inspiring. Exposure to the unique backgrounds of my potential peers and professors will be invaluable in lending to innovation and compliment my own experiences. As a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, I seek to increase my knowledge and acceptance of behavioral health issues, effectively removing the stigma of the disease, and to expand access to psychiatric care. My career started in the pharmaceutical industry, where I brought a unique perspective and human compassion to the area of mental health and fostered awareness of the complex issues of the mentally ill. My focus was on screening and assessment of primary and secondary symptomalogy of the mental health disorders with an emphasis on continuity of care in the primary care environment. According to McLaughlin (2004), treatment delay between the onset of the symptoms and intervention on average is ten years. My tenacity has resulted in increased diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up for patients suffering from psychiatric disorders. As I move forward in my career, I would like to employ the principles learned at this organization to increase access to psychiatric and health care services. My aim is to effectively treat patients earlier and provide with proper follow up of care by decreasing the duration of time between medical visits.
In my current position as a Board Certified Psychiatric Registered Nurse at Nicklaus
Transformative Care; Treatment of Mental Illness
Children’s Hospital, I am aware of the barriers patients and families face in accessing mental health care. Frustrated and tearful, parents often express how they are unable to refill prescriptions or see mental health clinicians because of insurance restrictions or lack of health insurance. Schwartz (2009) relates and alarming statistic that an estimation of 10 percent of adolescents do not have mental health care benefits and most insured adolescents have insufficient coverage to meet the basic need. Psychiatric illness untreated has the capacity to impact one’s ability to achieve a productive, meaningful and fulfilling life. In respect to the symptomalogy of the psychiatric conditions I see in the inpatient psychiatric unit, I work with patients where medical issues include self-inflicted injuries, attempted suicide and homicidal behavior. Many of these serious and life altering events can be avoided with access to appropriate preventative care.
As a nurse, it is my job to protect patients from harm and restore them to health. Empathically I wonder about the fate of those individuals who I do not see as a clinician, children who may suffer in silence unable to get the care they need. An estimated 15 million children and adolescents in the United States have mental health problems that affect their functioning while only 20 percent receives treatment (“Children's Mental Health”, n.d.). Ginsburg and Foster (2009) explain that approximately 75 percent of children with mental health issues are seen in a primary care setting. As a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, I will be uniquely positioned to identify and make a real difference in the lives of children with mental health illness and their families.
Concurrently, I work with several nonprofit organizations to include appointment as
Transformative Care; Treatment of Mental Illness
Secretary to the City of Miami Homeless Veterans Task Force and as a Deputy Director to The Florida Veterans Foundation. In this capacity I collaborate with businesses, government and individuals utilizing their time, talent and voice to make a difference in veterans’ lives. In meeting this objective, I advocate for access to substance abuse and mental health services, housing, career and financial assistance. My goal is to bring normalcy and comfort to the lives of veterans and their families in a time of need. University of Alabama's online program will enable me to further my philanthropic endeavors in Miami during my education. In turn, I will utilize the relationships I have established in my current role and the knowledge gained from University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to provoke change as I move forward in my career.
Throughout my varied experiences, compassion has remained my guiding principle, along with the motto “Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege.” I will continue my philanthropic and professional aspirations in my educational endeavors as I transition into the role of Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. My ambition is to work in economically depressed areas of Miami where the prevailing cultural attitude towards mental illness and access to psychiatric services are entrenched barriers to care. I aspire to give voice to individuals who suffer from mental illness and to increase public attention and tolerance of the issues they face, providing the framework of support and encouragement for people to seek treatment. As an advocate and clinician, I will work to change policy, enhance collaboration, and build the capacity of service providers. At UAB I am certain the accumulated knowledge and skills I will obtain at your institution will be instrumental in my work as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
References
Child Trends Analysis of 2013. National Health Interview Survey data. (2014). Bethesda, MD:
Children's Mental Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from American Psychology Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/families/children-mental-health.aspx
Ginsburg, S., & Foster S. (2009). Strategies to Support the Integration of Mental Health into Pediatric Primary Care., NIHCM Foundation., Washington, D.C., United States. Retrieved from: http://www.nihcm.org/pdf/PediatricMH-FINAL.pdf
McLaughlin, C. (2004). Delays in Treatment for Mental Disorders and Health Insurance Coverage. Health Services Research, 39(2), 221–224. Retrieved from Wiley Online Library: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2004.00224.x
Schwarz, S. W. (2009). Adolescent mental health in the United States: Facts for Policymakers. New York, NY: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Retrieved from National Center for Children in Poverty: http://nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_878.pdf
US Department of Health and Human Services; US Department of Education; US Department of Justice. (2000). Report of the Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental Health: A National Action Agenda.(Report No. 0-16-050637-9). Department of Health and Human Services., Washington, D.C., Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ books/NBK44233/
