keetahe

just thought i would add my 2 cents worth to the discussion.more than 30 years ago i was treated in an in-pt unit for depression after a failed suicde attempt.at this stage i was working as an enrolled nurse (= to your lvn) in a general setting.for quite sometime i wasn't allowed unescorted time of the unit,but nearly everyday a med student came and took me for a walk in tne park next door. it was her humane and caring treatment of me that a sparked an interest in mental health work. some many years later i went back to school and got my diploma of nursing & since (1994) i have only worked in a variety of mental health settings. about 6 years ago i fell back into that big black hole called depression, which required admission to hosp (to another facility,not where i was working) unfortunately all though trailed on a number of anti-depressants,nothing appeared to be working,so after much discussion i underwent a good number of ect treatments which just enabled to put my self back together,with alot of support from a community mental health team. i am still working in mental health. sorry this story is probably alot too long! but in answer to your query, sometimes i think just like in any other branch of nursing,sometimes it can help to have had some 1st hand experience. but i have always said that to work in this field you won't drive you mad,it just feels like that sometime!! sorry if this is too long winded

hello i am an rn and work in mental health, (forensics) in auckland n.z. you might find these websites useful. www.nznurses.co.nz www.nursingcouncil.org.nz www.zest4life.co.nz- this site is about nursing jobs in n.z. www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf- this site is to the ministry of health and from there you can get to all the different district health boards here. your more than welcome, to contact me if you like, i 'd be willing to try and answer any questions you might have

:balloons: :smiley_aa Congratulations on passing,treat yourself to something special. You deserve it, all your hard work has paid off

Hope this might be of help to you www.nursingcouncil.org.nz I live in Auckland NZ, thought these couple of sites might be of interest to you as well. www.sahco.nz/Counties/ then click on working in NZ, www.adhb.govt.nz this hospital is very near the centre of the city. The ADHB is going to be at Opportunities NZ Expo 16/17 Oct 2004 been held at Earls Court, Ibis Hotel. If you want to ask any other questions,I'd be happy to try and answer them for you. Good luck Christine:balloons: