The Scottish Government has pledged to further develop mental health nurses working at specialist, advanced and consultant level, as well as ensure nurses and students in this field are given clinical supervision.
These pledges are among 24 recommendations to be taken forward by the Scottish Government and other key mental health nursing stakeholders, as part of a new mental health nursing review.
“I believe being a mental health nurse is one of the best and most fulfilling careers you can chose”
Alex McMahon
The review, published last week, aims to improve outcomes for people experiencing mental health challenges by optimising the skills, capabilities and expertise of mental health nurses.
More than 1,000 registered mental health nurses and students were consulted for the research, as well as those with lived experience and carers.
Five priority themes were identified by mental health nurses who contributed to the review:
Strengthening the contribution and impact of the mental health nursing profession;
Mental health nursing leadership;
Mental health nursing education and development;
Nurturing the mental health nursing workforce;
Rural and island considerations.
Under these headings are 24 recommendations that the Scottish Government has promised to take forward, to improve the experiences of mental health nurses and build a workforce fit for the future.
One such recommendation is about supporting and further developing specialist, advanced and consultant nurse mental health nursing practice.
There was also a similar pledge to enable mental health support workers to progress into registered mental health nursing if they wish.
It comes as the review heard how mental health nurses in Scotland were motivated to expand their practice and would like to achieve this through more clearly defined clinical career pathways.
The report set out that empowering mental health nurses to reach their full potential was “pivotal” to addressing ongoing mental health service challenges, including workforce shortages.
Meanwhile, the review heard about the importance of effective and impactful mental health nursing leadership and communication at all levels.
As such, one recommendation involved conducting an analysis of existing leadership structures across services.
Similarly, the review set out that the Scottish Government should re-establish a sustainable student mental health nursing network to ensure that there is sharing of best practice, support and resources.
The need for improved access to post-registration training, education and development was a strong theme that emerged during the review.
Mental health nurses expressed a particular desire for training to better support people exhibiting distressed behaviour, aggression and violence.
Participants also highlighted a critical need for protected learning time, noting that this was not often available due to workloads.
The Scottish Government committed to scoping gaps in the post-registration learning offer for mental health nurses, as well as improving access to learning and development resources.
On clinical supervision, there were recommendations that set out that higher education institutions must embed the use of a new clinical supervision framework for mental health nursing students.
Employers must also commit to ensuring protected contractual time for clinical supervision for mental health nurses.
To monitor this implementation, the Scottish Government said it expected all mental health nurses across sectors to report incidents where their protected contractual time for supervision was not adhered to and the reasoning for this.
Meanwhile, the review also heard about the specific challenges and opportunities faced by mental health nurses working in rural and island areas.
These included issues relating to staffing, affordable housing and the accessibility of services.
The review set out that a rural and islands mental health nursing network subgroup would be set up.
It said this would provide an opportunity for rural and island mental health nurses to create a community of practice, to share learning and best practice.
Based on feedback from the group, the Scottish Government said it would consider whether there are specific education needs for mental health nurses working in these areas.
Overall, the review recommended that the government establishes a a mental health nursing review implementation group, which would ensure effective collaboration, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of all 24 review actions.
The report builds on the recommendations of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce, published earlier this year, which outlined 44 actions to improve the nursing and midwifery workforce in Scotland.
Chair of the mental health nursing review and former chief nursing officer for Scotland, Professor Alex McMahon, said it had been an honour to lead the work.
Alex McMahon
He said: “The report and its recommendations mean that patients and mental health nurses who deliver services now and in the future will benefit from the reforms.
“It will be important to ensure these recommendations are implemented, and one aspiration I and others share is that we will attract and retain even more people into undergraduate nursing degree programmes.
“I believe being a mental health nurse is one of the best and most fulfilling careers you can chose.”
Responding to the review, Royal College of Nursing in Scotland associate director, Eileen McKenna, said it was positive that the actions in the review “align quite closely with the work the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce is doing”.
She added: “As with the taskforce, the keys to success are fully implementing the recommendations in a timely manner and ensuring it is fully funded.
“We need to ensure that the distinct contribution of mental health nursing is enhanced, however mental health legislation develops and the recommendations of this review are implemented.
“There are, too, still many workforce challenges that remain unresolved, particularly sickness absences and vacancies which remain too high. We also need to attract more students into mental health nursing courses.”
Meanwhile, mental wellbeing minister Tom Arthur said: “Through their expert care, compassion and dedication, mental health nursing staff make a significant and positive impact to people’s health and wellbeing every day.
“The review focuses on their unique role, and it will ensure the profession is supported and empowered to drive the enhancement of mental health and wellbeing services now and in the future.”
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