Scoping practice issues in the Australian mental health nursing workforce

Abstract

This is the third of four articles on the scoping study of the Australian mental health nursing workforce conducted on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses (ANZCMHN) for the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC) National Working Group on Mental Health (NWGMH). Its purpose is to focus on factors that significantly affect mental health nursing practice. The issues of advanced practice, regulation of nursing, accreditation, credentialing and demarcation with other disciplines are addressed.

Scratching Beneath the Surface: Influencing Factors on Nurses’ Attitudes Toward the Use of Seclusion

“…Mental health nursing is frequently regarded as a stressful profession with greater risks to safety than tends to be found in other specialist fields of nursing (Clinton, 2000;Clinton & Hazelton, 2000;Currid, 2008;Happell, 2008;Nakakis & Ouzouni, 2008;Ward & Cowman, 2007). This finding may, therefore, reflect the view of some participants that the absence of a safe work environment results in the need to use coercive practices more than they would prefer, resulting in a sense of disenchantment with their work.…”

“…The impact of stress, burnout, and job satisfaction in mental health nursing, have generally been considered in relation to the broader workforce issues of recruitment and retention. (Clinton, 2000;Clinton & Hazelton, 2000;Currid, 2008;Happell, 2008;Nakakis & Ouzouni, 2008;Ward & Cowman, 2007). The rationale being that the less mental health nurses feel burnt out and the more satisfied they feel with their work, the more likely the are to remain in the field, and the more likely it is that mental health nursing will be considered an attractive career option to others.…”

“…Mental health nursing has been acknowledged as a highly stressful profession, often accompanied by relatively low levels of job satisfaction and high levels of burnout (Clinton, 2000;Clinton & Hazelton, 2000;Currid, 2008;Happell, 2008;Nakakis & Ouzouni, 2008;Ward & Cowman, 2007). To date, however, most of the literature has focused on the implications of stress, burnout, and job satisfaction on the recruitment and retention of the mental health nursing workforce.…”

Impacts of Seclusion and the Seclusion Room: Exploring the Perceptions of Mental Health Nurses in Australia

“…Job satisfaction, burnout, and therapeutic optimism were chosen as the three variables to consider because of the perception of the high stress levels associated with mental health nursing practice (Clinton, 2000;Clinton & Hazelton, 2000;Currid, 2008;Happell, 2008;Nakakis & Ouzounci 2008;Ward & Cowman, 2007). However, these concepts have not been examined in relation to nursing practice.…”

A Major Stream in Mental Health in Undergraduate Nursing Programmes: Identifying the Benefits and Acknowledging the Innovation

“…Robinson and Griffiths (2007) drew mainly on the Australian and New Zealand literature in proposing solutions to the inherent problems with pre-registration mental health nurse education. In particular, they suggested: increasing the mental health nursing component of generalist education (Cleary & Happell, 2005;Wynaden, Orb, McGowan, & Downie, 2000); considering a 4-year course leading to a mental health nursing and general nursing degree (Clinton & Hazelton, 2000); re-introducing direct entry specialist mental health nursing education (Stuhlmiller, 2005); a mix of common and specialist training (Prebble, 2001); or, abandon nursing in favour of training and employing generic health workers (Holmes, 2006).…”