When most people think of travel nursing, they likely think about nursing in the traditional clinic or hospital sense. However, there is a large number of nurses out there who specialize in the mental health and psychiatric areas of medicine, and these nurses are highly valued in the travel nursing industry as well. Vivian Booth is one of these nurses. She’s spent her entire clinical career working in the mental health area, primarily part time. However, she decided to take it on full time six years ago. While travel nursing, Vivian works with child, adolescent and geriatric patients, and was named Aureus Medical’s Employee of the Quarter in 2016’s second quarter.
Vivian’s background
Vivian has been a registered nurse for over 35 years and was inspired to pursue the profession by her great-grandmother. Her great-grandmother became a successful midwife in northern Florida, despite the fact that she practiced in a time that public education was offered to African Americans only until the eighth grade.
“I was proud of and held my great-grandmother in high regard for overcoming obstacles to become a care provider and wanted to follow in her footsteps,” said Vivian.
Vivian started in the field in behavior health on the weekends, while working on the design team at Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Over the years, she’s transitioned to a variety of positions, including being the statewide contract manager for the Minority Physician Network at the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and even assisting in the design and implementation of Medicaid reform. With Aureus Medical, Vivian has worked in Huntington, West Virginia; St. Louis, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lake Mary, Florida; Modesto, California, and is currently on assignment in Northridge, California, working adults and geriatrics.
In addition to her nursing degree, Vivian also holds a BS in human resource management and a graduate certificate in public administration from Florida State University. She’s working on a masters in health sciences in healthcare informatics.
“Conducting group and individual counseling is where I feel most proficient.”
Why mental healthcare
Vivian’s choice to enter the mental healthcare field was a personal and professional one. Her aunt, niece and younger brother all have schizophrenia, and she has witnessed what a world of difference can be made in patient’s lives with adequate treatment of mental illness. She said that a number of her family members and patients have been able to go on to live highly functional, happy lives as productive members of society with the proper care.
“I can sit, talk and listen to my patients for long periods of time,” Vivian said. “Conducting group and individual counseling is where I feel most proficient.”
The role of travel nurses in mental healthcare
The scope of patients that psychiatric nurses work with is infinite. In their career, they’ll likely work with patients with conditions like schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and more, with varying degrees of severity. In some cases, these nurses are patient advocates, especially if the patient is in an impaired mental state. Because of this, those in psychiatric travel nursing jobs need to be ready to get involved with the courts in cases like involuntary admission and conservatorship.
There is a huge need for travel nurses in the mental healthcare field. The nurses that are chosen for these roles are trained in behavioral therapy. This allows nurses to not only be able to handle the individual needs of each patient but also teach the patients and their loved ones how to cope with any challenges that can arise due to their psychiatric disorder. Other roles of a psychiatric travel nurse include developing diagnoses as well as planning, implementing and evaluating care for the patient. These nurses also work with groups and communities to assess mental health needs.
Interventions are also a large part of a psychiatric nurse’s role. In these interventions, the nurse’s responsibilities include:
- Fostering the health of the patient.
- Assessing their level of dysfunction.
- Improving coping capabilities.
- Assisting the client with self-care.
- Administering and monitoring treatment regimens.
- Leading other health teachings, including psychological education, crisis intervention, counseling and case management.
Other challenges patients seeking mental health treatment may be dealing with include limited housing, relationship struggles, poor medication management or a lack of medication altogether. Because of this, Vivian says the most important qualities in a psychiatric travel nurse include compassion, communication and caring.
“Other qualities include understanding and empathy,” Vivian said, as well as “Individuality, providing support, being there and being available, being genuine, promoting equality, demonstrating respect, demonstrating clear boundaries and demonstrating self-awareness.”
Treat patients and their families as if they were your family members.Booth’s advice
Nursing is a tough industry – especially psychiatric travel nursing – but there is no doubt that it’s also one of the most rewarding fields to work in. Vivian says that all psychiatric nurses need to learn to trust their instincts when it comes to providing care.
“The low-tech components of nursing are important,” said Vivian. “Patients are very sensitive to your voice, tone, actions and words. Treat patients and their families as if they were your family members. And yes, it is hard to love some members of our family.”