According to the World Health Organization WHO 2022, mental health is a state of well-being in which individuals can reach their potential: Mental Health Assignment, OC, Ireland

According to the World Health Organisation WHO 2022, mental health is a state of well-being in which individuals can reach their potential and can cope with the everyday stress of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to their community.

Prior to undertaking this module my knowledge of mental well-being was somewhat limited. I realize that I had actually performed some of these tasks without knowing they were related to mental well-being. I have learned how the different models of mental health have changed over the years due to advances in knowledge and evidence-based research about mental health and mental well-being.

This will increase my confidence in future placements, giving me a better understanding and knowledge of how to assess a patient and how to relate it to mental well-being.

I will use Gibb’s reflective cycle to guide me in this assignment. Gibb’s reflective cycle, developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give nurses and students a structure to learn from experiences; there are six stages. Stage one includes a description of what happened; the second stage is feelings and thoughts; the third stage is evaluation; the fourth stage is analysis; the fifth stage is the conclusion: and the sixth stage is the action plan.

It is important for nurses to be reflective to help identify areas for learning and development as it allows them to make sense of a situation and understand how well it went and how it has affected them and the patient. It is also important as it can have a positive impact on the nurses, patients, and other colleagues, for their own health, and well-being and to improve their own knowledge and skills.

According to (RCN 2022) Mental well-being for a nurse is being fit, and healthy, being able to function properly, building good relationships with patients, encouraging healthy behaviors, and having the ability to enjoy life.

Mental well-being is extremely important for nurses as this means they are able to ensure they can maintain the safety and well-being of their patients. Nurses often experience burnout due to staff shortages, working long hours, and the stress of the job. This can effectively put the patient’s safety at risk as the nurse is more likely to make errors, such as medication overdose due to miss calculations.

The National Library of Medicine (Kaunas. 2019) reported that In the United States, medical errors account for more than 250,000 deaths a year, making it the third leading cause of death. It is predicted that burnout will negatively affect both patient safety perceptions and the perceived likelihood of reporting events.