Phil Escott

Continuing challenges for the mental health consumer workforce: A role for mental health nurses?

The aim of this paper is to discuss issues impacting on consumer workforce participation and challenges that continue to arise for these workers, other service providers, and the mental health system. The literature identifies the following issues as problematic: role confusion and role strain; lack of support, training, and supervision structures; job titles that do not reflect actual work; poor and inconsistent pay; overwork; limited professional development; insufficient organizational adaptation to expedite consumer participation; staff discrimination and stigma; dual relationships; and the need to further evaluate consumer workforce contributions. These factors adversely impact on the emotional well-being of the consumer workforce and might deprive them of the support required for the consumer participation roles to impact on service delivery. The attitudes of mental health professionals have been identified as a significant obstacle to the enhancement of consumer participation and consumer workforce roles, particularly in public mental health services. A more comprehensive understanding of consumer workforce roles, their benefits, and the obstacles to their success should become integral to the education and training provided to the mental health nursing workforce of the future to contribute to the development of a more supportive working environment to facilitate the development of effective consumer roles.

Marginalization and associated concepts and processes in relation to mental health/illness.

Edited byMona M. Shattell, RN, PhDDePaul University, School of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois, USAEdited byMichelle Cleary, RN, PhDSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Western Sydney, Austral...

Drug and alcohol education for consumer workers and caregivers: a pilot project assessing attitudes toward persons with mental illness and problematic substance use.

With the development of peer support networks in the mental health system, formal training should be provided regarding the adverse effects of substance use. Four educational workshops were conducted with caregivers and consumer workers to increase their knowledge and confidence to support people with a dual diagnosis. Workshops were evaluated through presurvey and postsurvey. The workshops were well received, and postworkshop, participants reported fewer negative attitudes toward people with a dual diagnosis and increased understanding and knowledge regarding substance misuse. This study highlights the effectiveness of targeted workshops for caregivers and consumer workers and advocates that nurses take a more active role in educational projects involving stakeholders.

Leading a Recovery-oriented Social Enterprise

Recovery-oriented mental health services promote the principles of recovery, such as hope and optimism, and are characterized by a personalized approach to developing consumer self-determination. Nurse leaders are increasingly developing such services as social enterprises, but there is limited research on the leadership of these programs. Leading a recovery-oriented mental health nurse social enterprise requires visionary leadership, collaboration with consumers and local health providers, financial viability, and commitment to recovery-focused practice. This article describes the framework of an Australian mental health nursing social enterprise, including the service attributes and leadership lessons that have been learned from developing program sustainability.

Qualitative Research: The Optimal Scholarly Means of Understanding the Patient Experience

Like other health disciplines, nursing is striving to meet the challenge of becoming increasingly research focused and evidence driven. The importance of a strong evidence base is undeniable, and in mental health nursing we have seen the development of a robust and dynamic discourse on research methodologies and vigorous discussion on the merits and weaknesses of the various research paradigms. Consumers and their experiences of care are (rightfully) central to much nursing research—it is critical to capture the consumer perspective and, where possible, involve consumers in research projects (Horsfall, Cleary, Walter, & Hunt, 2007). In this column, we aim to highlight the value of qualitative research in capturing first person accounts of people living with mental illness. After describing the high level skills required of the interviewer, we then broadly explore how consumers could be integrated into research teams.

The recovery continuum: how do meaningful activities for consumers fit?

In many developed countries today, a recovery orientation is the mental health policy ethos from hospitals through to the community (Australian Government, 2010). Two of the criticisms consumers of...

Primary health care in the mental health workplace: insights from the Australian experience.

In Australia, Primary Health Care and the mental health sector have always shared a philosophy. In 1978, Primary Health Care was first put forward as a strategy to improve “health for all.” Recently, the Australian Government included mental health as a national health priority, identifying six strategies consistent with a Primary Health Care approach to address the mental health of all Australians. Throughout this time, Primary Health Care has been highlighted in all models of care. However, in reality, it appears that in mental health services, mental health nurses, despite good intentions, are not delivering care in a planned or systematised way and that much needs to be done to further improve the situation for individuals accessing the health care system. Services currently focus on those identified as seriously mentally unwell; in order to really make an impact it is argued that services should be broader, offered to the population at large and, further, that the emphasis on case work at an individual level should be changed to an approach that considers prevention, maintenance, and follow-up as well as crisis intervention. This article reflects the Australian experience and offers some insights from that experience.

People with Borderline Personality Disorder and Burns: Some Considerations for Health Professionals

aUniversity of Tasmania, School of Health Sciences, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; bDepartment of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, National Burns Center, Sheba Medical Center, Israel; cSackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; dSydney Local Health District Mental Health Service, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; eUniversity Associate in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Tasmania, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Recovery-oriented Care and Leadership in Mental Health Nursing

A recovery-oriented mental health service actively involves consumers as fully as possible in all aspects of their care, empowering them to establish and strive for individual goals and to develop ...

Super Research or Super-Researched?: When Enough is Enough…

Increasingly, faculty and staff are expected to undertake quality research that is original and substantive, and to conduct sustained research programs with outputs. Carrying out research with these characteristics is not without challenges, and this is especially so when dealing with everyday clinical and teaching demands and assuming associated responsibilities in a competitive culture which requires high level performance. There are, however, numerous opportunities for collaboration which can lead to substantial research output and a “win-win.” In this brief column, we consider an emerging issue in relation to high quality versus excessive research, hence the title, “super research or super-researched?” Research “fatigue” is increasingly reported in international communities across a variety of fields, but despite such acknowledgement, the concern remains largely unaddressed (Sukarieh & Tannock, 2013). In the past, over-researched groups have included students in education settings and patients in hospitals as both groups were considered “easy prey” for recruitment to research projects (Cleary, Walter, & Jackson, 2014).This con-