Working Together to Raise the Profile of Mental Health Nursing: A Case Study in True Collaboration
Research indicates that graduate nurses will be enticed into a specialty area such as mental health if they get exposure to the discipline during their undergraduate education. As a consequence, a collaborative approach beginning at theory development through to clinical application was considered a proactive approach to enable students to gain a comprehesive understanding of what it might be like to be a mental health nurse. A team of mental health nurse academics, clinicians and a consumer therefore, worked closely together to offer a core course in the Bachelor of Nursing programme at Central Queensland University. This paper maps this journey and describes the ever changing landscape that contributed to the delivery of the distance third year course. From inception to delivery, the authors identify and describe the processes of what occured. Discussion will include what worked well, pitfalls to be avoided and an evaluation of the course from the learners and presenters perspective. The course also included a 2 day workshop; a learning opportunity students were expected to attend, where they were again exposed to clinicians, consumers and academics all workling closely to ensure the best possible learning outcomes. Results of a survey that was administered to students to ascertain intent of undertaking mental health nursing post graduation is also examined.