Mental Health Nursing Officer

Overview

As a member of the military, Mental Health Nursing Officers provide nursing care in the mental health nursing domain of practice to ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and supported populations in tertiary and primary care environments in Canada and while on operation.

Mental Health Nursing Officers work within a collaborative practice model with other members of the health care team and lead the nursing care delivery within their area of practice. Mental Health Nursing Officers have the opportunity to work in different domains of nursing practice including:

Patient partnered care;
Crisis management;
Case coordination;
Consulting services;
Policy and Program management; and
Education and Training.

Work environment

Mental Health Nursing Officers usually work in Canadian Force Health Services Centres, civilian tertiary care centres and Headquarters. Mental Health Nursing Officers work in an office at a base, wing or garrison and deploy overseas on operational missions. During field exercises and deployments to military operations abroad, Mental Health Nursing Officers live and work in the same environment as the CAF members they treat.

During field exercises and deployments to military operations abroad, Mental Health Nursing Officers live and work in the same environment as the CAF members they treat.

If you chose a career in the Regular Force, upon completion of all required training, you will be assigned to your first base. While there is some flexibility with regards to postings (relocations), accommodations can’t always be made, and therefore, you can likely expect to move at some point in your career. However, if you decide to join the Primary Reserve Force, you will do so through a specific Reserve unit. Outside of training, your chosen Reserve unit will be your workplace on a part time basis, and you will not be obligated to relocate to a different base. As part of the Primary Reserve Force, you typically work one night per week and some weekends as a minimum with possibilities of full-time employment.

Career Overview

Transcript

Mental Health Nursing Officer

Lieutenant Navy Nova Dowling:

I'm Lieutenant Navy Nova Dowling originally from the Philippines, and I'm a Mental Health Nursing Officer.

Mental Health Nursing Officers in the Canadian Forces are registered nurses with a specialty in mental health and as mental health nursing officers, we make sure that members get the assistance they need when they need it. So right care at the right time, right place. And we collaborate with a lot of our colleagues, our psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, those types of professionals, in order to give that member the best care possible. So as a mental health nursing officer, you do work in a Canadian Forces health services clinic that's across Canada, where you see patients on a daily basis. You interact with your other colleagues on a daily basis, but you also have the opportunity to deploy.

I have deployed as a Mental Health Nursing Officer to Kuwait, to Iceland, and Latvia. Those all varied from a week to six months. During those deployments, you are seeing patients, you are seeing members and your main job is to help them through that moment of distress, equip them with coping strategies and coping skills in order to help them manage the stressful moment at that time, and then hopefully to give them even more skills and strategies to help them in the long run.

What I love about my career is, is the my gosh, all the opportunities, my own professional growth, my own personal growth, training, courses, deployments, it's

choose your own adventure.

Pay and Benefits

A competitive compensation and benefits package is available for this medical specialization. Contact a Health Services Specialist Recruiter to learn more: HSRecruiting-RecrutementSS@forces.gc.ca

Training

After completing the Rank Qualification Lieutenant training, Nursing Officers selected for specialisation or who have civilian experience within a mental health/psychosocial services environment are required to complete a formal mental health nursing course and a certification to ensure they have the clinical competencies required to deliver nursing care in a general mental health and psychiatric emergency setting. The certification is completed in a Canadian civilian tertiary care facility and at Canadian Forces Health Services Centres through completion of a designated curriculum. The course completion and length of the certification depends on each Nursing Officer’s level of previous clinical experience.

Mental Health Nursing Officers may be offered the opportunity to develop specialized skills through formal courses and certifications, including:

Addiction;
General Mental Health Services;
Psychosocial Services;
Counseling;
Management; and
Policy and Program management.

Entry plans

Direct Entry Options

In-Service Selection

Nursing Officers who joined the occupation through any entry plan have the opportunity, upon selection, to further specialize as a Mental Health Nursing Officer and progress in jobs and ranks of increasing responsibility.

Direct Entry

If you already have a university degree and license to practice as a Registered Nurse in a Canadian province or territory and civilian nursing experience in a mental health environment, the CAF may place you directly into a Mental Health Nursing Officer job after evaluation of your experience. You will have to complete some education and certification to complement your civilian experience.

For further information, please contact a Canadian Forces Health Services Recruiter: HSRecruiting-RecrutementSS@forces.gc.ca.

Part time options

Reserve Force Mental Health Nursing Officers are trained to the same level as their Regular Force counterparts. Your civilian experience will have to reflect an employment in a mental health environment. If you are unsure about your civilian experience matching the job requirements, please contact a Canadian Forces Health Services Recruiter: HSRecruiting-RecruitementSS@forces.gc.ca.