"Breaking the Chains" The Liberation on Mental Health Nurses in the Prison Setting
This presentation is a brief look at the evolution of mental health services and the changing role of the mental health nurse, within the prison setting in Western Australia. The movement of the ‘psychiatric patient’ from the asylums and instititions back into the community, has heralded another chapter in mental health care. Where ‘Care in the Community’ has often failed our mental health clients, due to a lack of resources, funding and support, recidivism and the ‘criminalisation of mental illness’ has unfortunately become the ultimate by-product for some.
The perception of the ‘Psychiatric nurse’ working in prisons has in the past, produced bleak images of crisis management, chemical restraint, seclusion, segregation and ultimately staff ‘burn out’. All in all, prison nursing has been perceived as an undesirable and unattractive career path by most. This presentation will hopefully dispel these myths, as we endeavour to lift the profile of mental health services and the role of the mental health nurse, within the prisons in Western Australia.
The evolving role of the prison mental health nurse, reflects the focus of nursing towards health rather than that of nursing the illness. Western Australian prisons has more recently focused on developing a 'Primary Health Care' model, to reflect the community environment, rather than that of a punitive institution.
This paper is a frank look at the peaks and troughs of our evolutionary journey, to develop mental health services and our role within the prison setting. It looks at where we were historically, to were we are now, and were we are heading in new horizons.
We aim to 'unlock the key', 'raise the bars' and 'break the chains' that has previously constraint our role, to release the myth of mental health nursing in the prisons.