According to the latest international guidelines, mental health nursing requires more funding, recognition and expertise to address global health inequalities.
The International Council of Nursing (ICN), a federation of more than 130 national nursing associations, has released new guidelines for mental health nursing.
“In the face of a rapidly evolving healthcare paradigm, the role of mental health nurses has never been more important.”
Pamela Cipriano
The guidelines advocate for better investment in and recognition of mental health nursing as a private specialty and encourage governments around the world to work towards eliminating huge regional differences in care.
In a foreword to the document, ICN President Dr. Pamela Cipriano said she hoped it would demonstrate how “essential” nurses are in addressing the world’s growing mental health care needs. .
“In the face of a rapidly evolving healthcare paradigm, the role of mental health nurses has never been more important,” Dr. Cipriano said.
Furthermore, she added: “Mental health is not simply the absence of mental disorders; it is a state of overall well-being in which an individual recognizes his or her abilities, can manage stress, work productively, and contribute to the community.
“Mental health nurses are at the forefront of this mission, and their expertise and skills are essential to building a responsive, person-centered health system that provides compassionate care.”
Dr Cipriano said her organization was concerned about the continuing “stigma” against mental illness in some countries.
She argued that having a specialized mental health nursing workforce in each country could help address this problem.
“Mental health nurses are uniquely positioned to counter these biases through public education and advocacy, as well as providing empathetic, person-centered, evidence-based care.”
The guidelines, published late last month, set out five broad goals that all countries should adhere to when organizing their mental health nursing workforce.
The first is to “integrate” mental health education into the undergraduate nursing curriculum so that all nurses, not just specialists, have basic knowledge of this health field.
“This fundamental competency is critical for the early detection, effective referral and management of mental health problems, and the provision of holistic and compassionate care,” the guidelines state.
ICN went on to say that it is important to have expertise in mental health nursing in addition to general nurses who understand this area.
He said the guidelines include retaining both graduate-level mental health nurses and advanced practice mental health nurses.
The ICN states that these advanced nurses have a minimum master’s degree, manage patients with mental health comorbidities, implement “subtle” interventions for these patients, and are more skilled than average mental health nurses. He said that they should be used to act as leaders with greater autonomy than their mentors.
Third, ICN called on governments and health professionals around the world to collectively invest in mental health, and in particular mental health nursing.
This investment must include efforts to “build a robust mental health nursing workforce,” including funding the introduction of advanced practice mental health nurses, ICN said.
It also said investments were needed to address current gaps in the nursing workforce, including education and continuing professional development structures to ensure nurses are “highly skilled and competent”. .
The fourth standard outlined by the ICN advocates that mental health nurses “uphold” human rights in mental health settings by addressing the stigma faced by patients, and Dr. Cipriano warned that they were facing
“ICN advocates for the essential inclusion of sessions on the needs and rights of people with mental health conditions in undergraduate nursing education, and requires co-teaching by people with lived experience of mental health conditions.”
“ICN also calls for educational programs to incorporate evidence-based bias reduction competencies so that future nurses can effectively address and counter the stigma and discrimination faced by patients and clients. .”
Finally, the council said it was “imperative” for governments around the world to ensure that mental health nursing is officially recognized as a profession distinct from other nursing professions.
This should include “rigorous accreditation,” setting standards for mental health nurses, and “elevating” the profession’s standing in society.
Following publication of the guidelines, ICN participated in a World Health Organization workshop on implementing pre-registration mental health and substance use education for health professionals.
At the event, Espen Garde Rolland, leader of the Norwegian Nursing Association and contributor to the ICN guidelines, reiterated his call for the government to recognize the importance of mental health nursing.
“Nurses are on the front lines of medicine, providing a continuum of care that includes compassion, empathy, and an unwavering dedication to more humane, effective, and comprehensive health services,” Rowland said in the new guidelines. He said this while promoting the
