Mental Health Nursing: Specialty of Nursing Practice

Mental Health Nursing
Name
Institution
Date
Mental Health Nursing
Introduction
Nursing profession like other professions articulates the scope and standards of professional nursing practice that includes defining its boundaries to inform the community about the required parameter of the nursing practice. The nursing practice is distinguished based on the nurse educational preparation as a way of determining the levels of practice. Nurse's role may differ but focuses on clinical practice, education research, or administrative duties. This paper addresses the role, scope, and standards of practice specifically in mental health nursing. The paper also defined mental health, analyzing it evolution as a specialty based on educational preparation, current clinical practice, the current trends, and issues relevant to the practice in reference to the Nursing Midwifery Board Australian (NMBA) standards.
Mental Health Nursing
Mental health nursing is a specialty of nursing practice that focuses on promoting mental health by conducting assessment, diagnosis procedures and treatment to help clients meet their recovery goals. Mental health nurses use it as an art combined with various nursing psychosocial, and neurobiological theories and research evidence to provide a detailed patient-centered care in various settings (Happell, 2007). Patient-centered means a person physical, social, and even spiritual needs in relation to the context of the person's environment including the family, significant others and the general community. Mental health nurses support clients including their families during several transition periods liaising with a range of health care providers to assist the clients in their recovery journey (National Board, 2006). Mental health nurses are significant professions in the health care system, therefore, needs to have the qualifications, experience, and skills to provide high-quality mental health nursing care. The mental health nursing workforce needs to be flexible and responsive to assist mental patients during their recovery process in a variety of workplace settings (Pridding, Watkins & Happell, 2007).
Evolution of Mental Health Care Nursing as a Specialty, Qualifications, and skills
Mental health nursing as a specialty started in the 19th century as major reforms were made to reorganize mental asylums into hospital settings to enhance care for the mentally ill patients (North & Hughes, 2012). Before the reforms, mental asylums were established but with limited resources and no emphasis on treatment. This changed in 1867 when an Act of Parliament was passed making it mandatory for those with mental illness be taken to asylum hospital but not prison. Care was more of custodial and delivered by untrained staff until medical staff started providing lectures to the staff (Elsom, Happell & Manias, 2007).
In Australia, major changes in mental health nursing further occurred in 1970 to 1980; the large asylums were broken down into smaller units within the general hospitals, which increased community-based care. There was the introduction of mainstreaming where mental health was integrated within the general health care system. Accordingly, the smaller units could provide care for patients with mental illness locate within the general hospitals (National Board, 2007). This changed the historical view of mental health nursing, which was considered as a distinct branch of nursing. To qualify as a mental health nurse, students had to undergo a three-year hospital based course. Due to policy reforms, nursing education was transferred from hospital to the higher education sector. In 1974, Australia saw the first nursing program instituted in Melbourne by the Royal College of Nursing (ANMC, 2009).
To promote good nursing practice the National competency standards for registered nurses was first established by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) in 1990 to come up with a national approach that could spearhead the nursing and midwifery practices. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) has since been mandated with several responsibilities in relation to nurses and midwives in Australia (ANMC, 2009).
Since its creation, these national competency standards have undergone periodic reviews with extensive consultations with nurses in Australia. By holding a periodic consultation, the National Board makes sure that the competency standard remains up-to-date and consistent with legislative requirements (National Board, 2006). Even though competency standards are changed in some areas from the former competency standards, it remains broad and principle-based to provide room for dynamism for practicing nurses to be able to use it as a benchmark to gauge competence to practice in various settings (ANMAC, 2013).
Mental Health Nursing Qualifications And Skills
Since mental health nurses help patients recover and live to their fullest potential, their education programs involve extensive practical experience that varies from state to state. According to the NMBA, upon the completion of three-year training, registered nurses who would want to be mental health nurses needs to pursue further a one-year residency training to enhance their skills. A mental health nurses should have adequate knowl...