Mental health nursing capability development: Perspectives of consumers and supporters

Mental health nursing requires a specialist range of capabilities and values. In Australian contexts, the preparation of nurses to work in mental health settings has attracted criticism from government reviews, academics, and graduate nurses. Insufficient mental health content and clinical placement experience in undergraduate nursing courses have been central to this criticism. The study aim was to identify the areas and modalities of capability development of graduate mental health nurses, from the perspectives of end point users. In order to meet the aim, a four-item cross-sectional online survey with three additional and open-ended questions was developed. The questions were co-designed with consumer academics and reviewed by consumer and carer organizations. The survey was widely distributed across Australian consumer and carer organizations, with 95 useable responses. Findings indicated strong support for lived experience being integrated into teaching teams for nurses, as well as support for undergraduate direct entry for mental health nursing. Themed content from open-ended responses reflected the survey outcomes as well as prioritizing skill development to support better therapeutic relating and nurse self-care. Key findings included strong support for greater lived experience input into mental health nurse education, specialist undergraduate preparation and a focus on developing relational capabilities in the mental health nurse workforce.