TY - JOUR
T1 - Undergraduate mental health nursing education in Australia
T2 - More than Mental Health First Aid
AU - Happell, Brenda
AU - Wilson, Rhonda
AU - McNamara, Paul
N1 - Funding Information:
In 2013, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) were successful in gaining funding from the Australian Department of Health and Aging grant with the aim of training at least one nursing academic from every Australian University ( Department of Health & Ageing, 2013 ) to become a Mental Health First Aid trainer. Upon successful completion of the programme nurse academics are then able and expected to provide this training to undergraduate nursing students. Under this arrangement nursing academics are required to attend a five-day training workshop and complete a supplementary online module. The training workshop largely consists of basic mental health knowledge, well below the level one should expect from nurses appointed as nursing academics.
Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Centre for Mental Health Nursing Innovation, the Institute for Health and Social Science Research, CQ University Australia .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Australian College of Nursing Ltd.
PY - 2015/12/1
Y1 - 2015/12/1
N2 - Mental Health First Aid training is designed to equip people with the skills to help others who may be developing mental health problems or experiencing mental health crises. This training has consistently been shown to increase: (1) the recognition of mental health problems; (2) the extent to which course trainees' beliefs about treatment align with those of mental health professionals; (3) their intentions to help others; and (4) their confidence in their abilities to assist others. This paper presents a discussion of the potential role of Mental Health First Aid training in undergraduate mental health nursing education. Three databases (CINAHL, Medline, and PsycINFO) were searched to identify literature on Mental Health First Aid. Although Mental Health First Aid training has strong benefits, this first responder level of education is insufficient for nurses, from whom people expect to receive professional care. It is recommended that: (1) Mental Health First Aid training be made a pre-requisite of pre-registration nurse education, (2) registered nurses make a larger contribution to addressing the mental health needs of Australians requiring care, and (3) current registered nurses take responsibility for ensuring that they can provided basic mental health care, including undertaking training to rectify gaps in their knowledge.
AB - Mental Health First Aid training is designed to equip people with the skills to help others who may be developing mental health problems or experiencing mental health crises. This training has consistently been shown to increase: (1) the recognition of mental health problems; (2) the extent to which course trainees' beliefs about treatment align with those of mental health professionals; (3) their intentions to help others; and (4) their confidence in their abilities to assist others. This paper presents a discussion of the potential role of Mental Health First Aid training in undergraduate mental health nursing education. Three databases (CINAHL, Medline, and PsycINFO) were searched to identify literature on Mental Health First Aid. Although Mental Health First Aid training has strong benefits, this first responder level of education is insufficient for nurses, from whom people expect to receive professional care. It is recommended that: (1) Mental Health First Aid training be made a pre-requisite of pre-registration nurse education, (2) registered nurses make a larger contribution to addressing the mental health needs of Australians requiring care, and (3) current registered nurses take responsibility for ensuring that they can provided basic mental health care, including undertaking training to rectify gaps in their knowledge.
KW - Attitudes to mental illness
KW - Mental Health First Aid
KW - Mental health nursing
KW - Nursing students
KW - Undergraduate nursing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84947489601&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.colegn.2014.07.003
DO - 10.1016/j.colegn.2014.07.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 26775530
AN - SCOPUS:84947489601
SN - 1322-7696
VL - 22
SP - 433
EP - 438
JO - Collegian
JF - Collegian
IS - 4
ER -
