Hemingway, Steve

English

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University of Huddersfield RepositoryHemingway, SteveThe times are changing in mental health nursingOriginal CitationHemingway, Steve (2016) The times are changing in mental health nursing. Mental Health Nursing, 36 (1). p. 3. ISSN 1353-0283 This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/27053/The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of theUniversity, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the itemson this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners.Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generallycan be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in anyformat or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profitpurposes without prior permission or charge, provided:• The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy;• A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and• The content is not changed in any way.For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, pleasecontact the Repository Team at: E.mailbox@hud.ac.uk.http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/EDITOR Phil Harris – mhneditor@gmail.comEDITORIAL BOARD•฀ Mandy Bancroft, chair of editorial board; senior lecturer, University of the West of England•฀ Terez Burrows, ward manager, Rampton High Secure Hospital•฀ Steve Hemingway, senior lecturer in mental health, University of Huddersfield•฀ Alun Jones, adult psychotherapist, North Wales NHS Trust•฀ Steve Jones, senior lecturer, Edgehill University, Faculty of Health, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool•฀ Donna Kemp, care programme approach development manager, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust•฀ Nicky Lambert, senior lecturer, Middlesex University•฀ Athia Manawar, practice education facilitator, Tees Esk Wear Valleys Trust•฀ Dave Munday, professional officer, Health Sector, Unite the Union•฀ Neil Murphy, lecturer, University of Salford•฀ Emily Prescott, student representative, Edge Hill University•฀ Mike Ramsay, lecturer in nursing (mental health), University of Dundee•฀ Hollie Roblin, student representative, University of HuddersfieldPUBLISHER Ten Alps Creative on behalf of the Mental Health Nurses Association © MHNA 2016ONE New Oxford Street, High Holborn, London WC1A 1NUADVERTISING OFFICES Claire Barber, Ten Alps Creative, ONE New Oxford Street, High Holborn,London฀WC1A฀1NU฀•฀claire.barber@tenalps.com฀•฀020฀7878฀2319SUBSCRIPTIONS MHN is free to members of the Mental Health Nurses Association.Annual฀subscription฀(six฀issues/one฀volume)฀for฀non-members฀£72.45฀/฀£108.75฀Institutions฀ (VAT and postage incl.) No part-volume orders accepted. Orders (cheques payable to MHNA) to:MHN Subscriptions, The Barn, 6 Abbey Mews, Robertsbridge TN32฀5AD.฀Tel:฀฀01580฀883844,฀email:฀mhn@c-cms.comISSN฀1353-0283฀(online฀version฀ISSN฀2043-7051)Cover image: XXXXX (Flickr Creative Commons)It฀is฀an฀interesting฀time฀for฀mental฀health฀nursing.฀Major฀changes฀have been suggested by the Willis and Francis reports and then the government’s response to this, in the Shape of Caring review, has heralded a generic first two years in training. The new career route of apprentice and assistant nurses offers a different way of learning the knowledge and skill to be a nurse practitioner. From next year student nurses will be financing their own education and training instead of receiving financial support from a bursary.  From my perspective in higher education these are worrying times. I฀do฀not฀disagree฀that฀mental฀health฀nurses฀need฀more฀physical฀health฀training, and likewise adult nurses need more mental health training. Introducing฀apprentices฀and฀assistant฀practitioners฀is฀one฀way฀of฀addressing the resource gap in nursing and healthcare, and potentially may appeal to people who do not suit the present academic route. Likewise฀I฀realise฀that฀government฀wants฀to฀tighten฀the฀purse฀strings฀so฀student฀self-funding฀via฀loans฀may฀be฀one฀answer.฀However,฀I฀am฀concerned about the recruitment and retention of mental health nurses.This is a brilliant career and one which young people seem to be turning to increasingly, perhaps because it is better than a degree that does not lead to a career pathway. Recruiting young people is good news and at least goes a little way of addressing the age gap, as many฀of฀us฀are฀near฀retirement฀group.฀However,฀I฀am฀worried฀that฀the฀proposed changes will act as a deterrent. At the moment we screen from the start with the degree course to make sure the candidate has the right motivation, attitude, and emotional฀resilience฀to฀be฀a฀mental฀health฀nurse.฀If฀students฀are฀recruited to a generic course, the programme will be adult nurse dominated and the chances of them choosing to be a mental health nurse may diminish, and we could end up with the acute shortages that the US, Australia and New Zealand have seen for a long time. As for the apprenticeship and associate nurse, some of us can remember that the state enrolled nurse allowed people with a less academic฀background฀to฀provide฀an฀excellent฀service,฀but฀I฀am฀also฀concerned about nursing and healthcare being dumbed down – is this a backdoor way of demeaning our status as we have been ‘too posh฀to฀wash’?฀It฀has฀been฀claimed฀that฀if฀universities฀can฀recruit฀more฀nursing students then this will increase the numbers coming through into practice. My concern is for the mature candidates – many of these have commitments, and if the bursary is cut they may be lost.Times฀are฀a-changing,฀and฀I฀would฀like฀to฀commend฀you฀all฀for฀work฀you do in increasingly difficult circumstances, in a service wanting more with less resources. We know there will always be people with mental distress.฀I฀hope฀there฀will฀always฀be฀mental฀health฀nurses฀who฀lead฀the฀way in helping the service user to cope and recover. MHNThe times are changing in mental health nursingContentsEditorialNewsStory฀•฀Story฀•฀Story฀•฀Story฀•฀Story฀•฀Story฀•฀StoryUnite/MHNA updateA round-up of activity by professional officer Dave Munday TitleIntroTitleIntroTitleIntroTitleIntroTitleIntroTitleIntroReflections•฀Join฀Unite/MHNA฀–฀inside฀back฀cover/back฀cover03040806102122Steve Hemingway Senior lecturer in mental health, University of Huddersfield09

The times are changing in mental health nursing

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