Scholarly Paper

Role Clarity in Nursing Student Name Name of Program, Name of School Course Code: Course Name Course Instructor Assignment Due Date Registered Practice Nurses (RPNs) provide safe, ethical, competent, evidence-informed, and compassionate care tailored to client needs. RPNs work in various specialties in healthcare and are crucial to patients' recovery from illnesses. Mental health is among the specialties that RPNs attend, and it calls for a keen assessment, intervention, and support for individuals who have mental health disorders. Patient-centered healthcare overrides the urge to make more profits and is among the main factors determining whether the client will return and refer close allies to the facility. This paper aims to delineate the scope of practice in nursing practice, explore the role of RPN within mental health nursing, and discuss the application of patient-centered care in this specialty. Scope of Practice Scope of practice refers to the responsibilities, roles, accountabilities, and functions a RPN is educated, authorized, and legislated to perform. Section 3 of the Nursing Act enacted in 1991 states that nursing should be done to promote health and assess provision, treatment, and care to maintain or attain optimal function (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2019). Thematic groups of competencies include clinician, communicator, professional, collaborator, leader, coordinator, advocate, educator, and scholar. Understanding the individual scope of practice in nursing is crucial to ensure that nurses maintain patient safety and accrue quality by allowing only qualified professionals to provide care to clients. RPNs should clearly understand what needs to be done and what they are not permitted to do. Having clear and specific boundaries in roles and duties prevents overstepping the scope of practice and neglecting the essential tasks the RPN should do. Role of RPN in Mental Health The mental health nursing specialty is concerned with the psychological, emotional, and social wellness of clients through the creation of therapeutic interpersonal relationships, positive self-concept, behavior, coping, and emotional stability. Nursing services offered by RPNS specialized in mental health nursing are assessment, intervention, education, and support. A mental health status examination assesses the client’s appearance, consciousness and orientation, general behavior, motor activity, speech, thought and perception, affect and mood, insight and attitude, and cognitive function. Suitable interventions include establishing a therapeutic relationship with the patient based on trust, allowing the...