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Aspects of Nursing Education: The Types Of Skills And Knowledge Required To Meet The
Changing Needs Of The Labour Force Involved In Nursing - Literature
Review
INTEGRATED HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY CARE
The literature reports that there is a number hospital outreach services
that are designed to facilitate a smooth transition from acute to community
based services.
The US literature relating to integration of hospital and community health
care services is largely contained in the case-management literature.
Qualitative research by Forbes (1999 USA) describes the important shift
in the role of the case management nurse as a vital link in the interface
between hospital and community-care. This case study revisits an acute
facility where case management is well established and assesses the impact
of managed care on nursing practice. Initially nurse case managers were
advanced practice nurses who were based in specialty units and followed
vulnerable patients in the community. The aim was to improve health outcomes
by assisting to stabilize the client's condition through a collaborative
relationship that built on the client's desire for self-management and
the nurses' knowledge of wellness, disease processes and available community
resources. Using a concept mapping approach, the researcher's claimed
to discover that the nurse case-manager role had changed over time. The
data presented however, did not support this claim. Instead, it identified
that one of the major roles of the nurse case manager was to 'bridge the
gaps' when client's needs were not met by the health care system. As such,
the case manager acted as a change agent, responded to crises, acted as
an advocate and was engaged in trouble-shooting.
A narrative paper by Bailey (1998 USA) again notes that the aging population
is growing rapidly and that integrated health care services are essential
in order to avoid complications after acute hospitalization. Bailey reports
on a model of extended care services that includes a nurse care coordinator,
a consultative geriatric assessment clinic, a primary care clinic and
the provision of team-based care to members located in skilled nursing
facilities (SNF's). The SNF's provide an intermediate level of care that
'fills the gap" between the acute hospital setting, nursing home type
care and home care. The role of the nurse care coordinator is to initiate
member screening, provide member orientation, supervise telephonic care
coordination and organise a volunteer-based visiting program.
One Australian model for integration of acute and community services
is Hospital in the Home (HITH). As the name suggests, HITH provides services
that are traditionally provided to hospital patients in their own home
environment. Hospital nurses' deliver care in the client's home, rather
than community based nurses. It is a relatively new service and includes
activities such as administration of intravenous therapy, administration
of chemotherapy, complex wound care, anti-coagulation and neonatal services
(Montalto & Karabatsos, 1998; McKenzie, 2000 AUS).
McKenzie (2000 AUS) reports that 12 HITH programs in Victoria, Australia
administer cytotoxic drugs outside the controlled environment of the hospital.
There is a wide variation of level of services provided and skills of
staff delivering these services. The Victorian Centre for Ambulatory Care
Innovation (VCACI) facilitated an expert committee to develop standards
to guide chemotherapy practices in the community. The paper by McKenzie
(2000 AUS) describes the pilot process initiated to evaluate the standards
and criteria that form the measurable components of the standards. The
study was small, consisting of a convenience sample of five HITH services
reporting greater than fifty episodes of chemotherapy care in the previous
12 months. The research methodology was a written survey followed by structured
interviews. The research findings validated the standards and identified
new knowledge and skills required for their implementation. These findings
led to the recommendation that future education programs should be structured
to ensure nurses develop a combination of oncology and community nursing
skills, and become familiar with quality improvement processes to support
development of policies specific to their own services.
In 1996 Montalto (AUS) conducted a descriptive survey to examine the
patients' and carers' satisfaction with hospital in the home care in Melbourne,
Australia. The HITH service at that time predominantly provided intravenous
antibiotic therapy to selected patients at home. The descriptive survey
revealed that the preference for the convenience and comfort of home was
the major reason for patient's agreeing to enter the HITH unit. Almost
all patients and their carers reported that they would use the service
again.
A small telephone administered structured survey (n=14) of Hospital in
the Home coordinators/directors in Melbourne, Australia was conducted
by Montalto and Karabatsos (1998 AUS). This research was prompted by the
recognition of a greater emphasis on integration of health services between
hospitals and primary health care providers yet a lack of information
about GP involvement in such services. The research found that there is
little GP involvement in these programs, instead 87.5% of services are
nurse-led and nurse delivered. GP involvement was limited to management
of intercurrent problems unrelated to the HITH care (21.4%) and even though
the HITH coordinator informed the GP of the patient's admission to the
program 42% of coordinators reported that these GP's had no current active
role. The researcher's hypothesised that relationships between GP's and
nurse coordinators may be inhibiting the GP involvement due to the coordinator's
hospital backgrounds. This observation has implications for the knowledge
and skills required for nurse-led hospital in the home programs. Not only
do HITH nurses require sound clinical skills and the ability to work independently,
but they also need knowledge of GP services and skills in adopting multi-disciplinary
approaches to health care in a community setting. These findings are consistent
with McKenzie's recommendations that HITH nurses not only require clinical
expertise, but that they also need to develop expertise in community nursing.
The nature of the Australian rural practice context suggests that health
care is characterized by a close relationship between acute and community
services. In a narrative paper McMurray (1998 Aus) reports that changes
in the Australian Healthcare service have meant an even greater shift
towards community-based services, population health, and multi-disciplinary
decision making in partnership with communities. This is of particular
importance to the health of rural and remote communities where health
status and mortality profiles identify there are significant 'at risk'
populations. Underpinning the provision of these services is economic
accountability and the need to demonstrate quantifiable clinical outcomes.
Health professionals have responded by developing best practice protocols
and practice guidelines that are transparent to the public and responsive
to community health care needs. These protocols in turn are informed by
recent and relevant evidence of their effectiveness. According to McMurray
these changes in service delivery have meant that the role of rural nurses
has become incredibly diverse. Activities undertaken by the rural community
health nurse range from ensuring access to breast screening programs,
to interventions dealing with rising levels of organochlorines in the
food chain, and campaigns to reduce road trauma among rural youth.. In
order to adjust to these changes nurses require new skills and knowledge
relating to working in multi-disciplinary research teams, analysing and
critiquing research findings, implementing evidence based research into
clinical practice, and gaining proficiency in disseminating research findings.
To support the acquisition of these skills, McMurray recommends the implementation
of research mentorship programs, clinical-university partnerships, interdisciplinary
rural seminars and study days, access to electronic journals and distance
education modules.
McMurray's commentary on the changing face of rural health services is
supported by qualitative research by McCarthy, Hegney & Pearson (2000
AUS). Based on data derived from a study of 129 rural health care facilities
on 'The role and function of the rural nurse in Australia' McCarthy, Hegney
& Pearson (2000 AUS) quantify the degree of change in reporting that
102 (79%) rural hospitals had experienced organisational change within
the previous year. Significantly, re-structuring in these services was
related to services changing from primarily acute medical services to
primary healthcare or aged care services. Other changes included amalgamation
or co-location of services, closure or downgrading of services and expansion
of surgical and midwifery services. The need for greater accountability
for service provision is evidenced by the implementation of case-mix/DRG
related funding and major reform of health care services in preparation
for Australian Council of Health Standards (ACHS) accreditation. The study
found that changes to rural health services resulted in significant changes
to the role and function of the rural nurse. They support McMurray's (1998
AUS) expert opinion and recommend that educational programs be implemented
to ensure that nurses reacted positively to these changes. New knowledge
and skills required relate to change management and the acquisition of
strategies to improve interdisciplinary communication, and community involvement.
top
Nurse-Led Clinics
While it is important to highlight that Nurse-led clinics arose from
the literature as a theme in their own right, the description of this
change in service and subsequent impact on the role of the nurse is discussed
in other sections of this review for contextual purposes. Accordingly,
the literature relating to this theme is located under the headings Primary
Focussed Care, Telemedicine/Telehealth, and services provided by specialist
nurses/extended and expanded roles.
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Family Provided Care
The literature relating to family caregivers includes several studies
from the United States, United Kingdom and one Australian study. Themes
emerging from the literature include the level of family care giver support,
patient dependency, needs of family care givers, and the impact of increased
home based care on the role of the community nurse.
Strategies to improve efficiency in health care in the United Kingdom
have resulted in an increased emphasis on home- based care (Kirk and Glendinning,
1998 UK). Home-based care is used to decrease length of stay, prevent
hospital admission and to provide service for people with terminal or
complex care needs (Marks, 1991, 1992 cited in Kirk and Glendinning, 1998
UK). This home care is often unpaid, informal care, provided by family
members (Kirk and Glendinning, 1998 UK). A substantial number of families
are willing to provide home-based services for family members to keep
them at home (Bond, Farrow, Gregson, Bamford, Buck, McNamee & Wright,
1999 UK).
The literature from the United States refers to family practice as treating
the patient in the context of their family and community and confirms
that cost cutting in acute care has precipitated a shift of care from
the hospital to the home.. A large USA study by Doeschner, Franks and
Saver (1999 USA) identified that family practice is more cost effective
than individual practice. This one-year cross sectional survey of 35,000
individuals from approximately 14,000 households, found that there was
a 14% reduction in costs when the family practice model was used.
The literature from the US also paints the picture of the chronic and
consuming nature of cancer care-giving. While the narrative literature
identifies strategies to assist family members providing healthcare services,
there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of these strategies.
Pasacreta, Barg, Nuamah and McCorkle (2000 USA) conducted a pre test-post
test study (NHMRC level IV) from a convenience sample of 187 cancer care
givers attending a 6 hour psychosocial education program. They found that
the education provided to help family members provide cancer-care had
positive effects. Participants reported that they were well informed and
confident about caregiving after the program. They also reported that
the program had improved their perceptions of their own health. However,
the study raises the point that not all caregivers are willing or able
to attend support programs and therefore service provision may be affected
accordingly.
The literature on the level of family caregiver contribution is primarily
narrative. Kirk and Glendinning (1998 UK) report that the increase in
home-based care in the United Kingdom has seen a shift in family contribution
from participation in care decisions to direct care provision. A large
study in England attempted to quantify the level of support being provided
by families. Bond, Farrow, Gregson, Bamford, Buck, McNamee & Wright
(1999 UK) surveyed 1444 people aged 65 plus living at home or in long
term care institutions. Of 1127 older people living at home, family delivered
93% of personal care support on a daily basis. Spouses were the primary
providers (38%), closely followed by daughters (30%). The researchers
concluded that there is a substantial commitment by families to keep the
older person at home.
The amount and type of care provided by families has also changed. Patients
are being discharged home with increased levels of technological support
and families are providing care that was previously provided by doctors
and nurses. The boundaries between the care provided by family care givers
and nurses are now blurred. In an environment where family carers are
delivering services that in the past have been provided by nurses the
literature reports on the supportive role that nurses have now assumed.
A study by Ward-Griffin and McKeever (2000 CAN) who interviewed 23 nurse-family
pairs in Canada found that nurses initially provided primary care for
the patient and families provided a support role. However after an adjustment
phase nurses expected family caregivers to learn and take over significant
amounts of care. The nurse role at this point was to monitor caregivers
competence and skills. The study identified incompatible role expectations
between the nurses and family caregivers. Family caregivers were not always
able to provide the level of care that was being required of then and
often experienced exhaustion, social isolation or became ill. Nurses are
called on to relieve family care giver workload and stress through the
provision of respite and additional home based support in order to ensure
caregiver do not become the 'patient'. Kirk and Glendinning (1998 UK)
report that nurses in the UK provide a key role in the education and supervision
of family caregivers. Nurses are also ideally placed to provide information
to potential informal carers to enable them to decide how involved home
care they will be.
The literature relating to the needs of family caregivers is supported
with evidence from studies in Canada, US and Australia. Ward-Griffin and
McKeever (2000 CAN) interviewed 23 nurse-family pairs in Canada to identify
the nature of the relationships between nurses in the community and family
members caring for elderly relatives. Family caregivers reported exhaustion
and social isolation as result of the burden of care giving and often
became 'the patients' themselves. The study found that nurses initially
provided primary care for the patient, and families provided a support
role. However, after an adjustment phase nurses expected family caregivers
to learn and take over significant amounts of care. British literature
reports that where voluntary sector support is available this may decrease
family caregiver stress and also reduce costs associated with care (Grant,
Goodenough, Harvey and Hine 2000 UK).
Australian researchers Nankervis, Bloch, Murphy and Herman (1997 AUS)
who conducted face to face and phone interviews with community counselors
at 62 Victorian Health and Disability Organisations, report that little
attention has previously been paid to identifying the problems experienced
by family care givers. Yet this information is required to ensure an appropriate
match between services and family care-givers needs. Family caregivers
in this study sought help at critical points: during major changes and
during new stages of the life cycle. The problems identified by family
caregivers demonstrate the challenge in looking after their relative and
the significant strain on their health and other relationships. Family
caregivers felt socially isolated and reported negative impacts of their
care giving on their marriage, children and other family relationships.
Other challenges identified included having to deal with the stigma of
the illness, changes in the patients' condition and care needs. Carers
also reported feeling anger, bewilderment, grief, guilt, anxiety and helplessness.
A lack of information provided about the patient's condition, prognosis
and services was also viewed as a problem. Counsellors are called to be
aware of the range of issues faced by carers and to actively seek to identify
and explore these issues with family caregivers. Strategies to assist
family caregivers may include education, advocacy, empowerment, increased
resources or improved problem solving skills.
In Australia Dr Gwen Hartrick from the University of Victoria identifies
benefits from a family approach to community nursing (Hartrick, 1997 AUS).
Potentially family nursing enables the nurses to understand the meaning
and experiences of families and illuminate the family's capacity to transform
their experience. However, the current focus on health problems does not
acknowledge the expertise and capacity of families to address their own
health and healing needs. While changes such as improved collaboration
and holism have occurred a problem management approach continues to exist.
Hartrick proposes that a transformation of the existing system away from
a health problem approach to an approach that enhances the health and
healing capacity of families is required.
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Care Delivered By Unlicensed Personnel
During the nurse shortages of the 1980's unlicensed staff were employed
in the USA to cover the shortfall (Keepnews, 1997 USA). With increasing
financial pressures in health care unlicensed staff are now being used
to reduce costs (Keepnews, 1997 USA; Salmond, 1997 USA; Needham, 1996
UK; Badovinac, Wilson & Woodhouse 1999 USA; Bruser and Whittaker,
1998).
Unlicensed staff is also referred to as unlicensed assistive personnel
(UAP), health care assistants, home health care aides and clinical support
workers. Fundamentally all these terms refer to health care staff who
are not nurses but who are employed to perform tasks that were previously
performed by nurses. Evidence relating to unlicensed staff is predominately
expert opinions from the USA and the UK, with very few high level studies.
While unlicensed staff are used in Australia, predominately in aged care,
no literature was identified exploring the Australian experience.
There does not appear to be a consensus within the literature regarding
the benefits of unlicensed staff. The UK literature appears to support
the introduction of an unlicensed staff role (Needham, 1996 UK; Poole,
1998 UK; Abbott, Johnson & Lewis, 2001 UK). In contrast the literature
from the USA includes concern, (Keepnews, 1997 USA; Salmond, 1997 USA)
and in some cases strong opposition to unlicensed practitioners (Bruser
& Whittaker 1998 USA). Salmond (1997 USA) argues that an RN work force
is in fact more cost effective, efficient and improves quality care and
through put of patients compared to the service provided by unlicensed
personnel requiring supervision by a nurse. Bruser and Whittaker (1998
USA) report on a campaign in the American Nurses Association against the
increasing employment of unlicensed staff. Key concepts in the campaign
are that 'every patient deserves a nurse' and nurses are called upon to
report unsatisfactory care by unlicensed staff and promote the capabilities
of nurses to policy-makers.
Of particular significance is a cross-sectional survey study (NHMRC level
IV) comparing the impacts of unlicensed staff in the USA and the UK (McLaughlin,
Barter, Thomas, Rix, Coulter & Chadderton, 2000 USA/UK). McLaughlin
et al (2000) surveyed 342 Registered Nurses (RN) in the UK and USA to
identify differences in the experiences of working with unlicensed staff.
Statistically significant differences were noted with RN's in the UK having
higher satisfaction with the ability of unlicensed staff to perform tasks,
communicate pertinent information and provide more time for the RN to
undertake professional activities. The researchers suggest the differences
can be attributed to differences in training levels of the unlicensed
staff and ratios of unlicensed staff between the two countries. The UK
has National Vocational Qualification Standards, a set of competencies
for unlicensed staff covering a number of key practices. No comparable
national guidelines exist in the USA. Secondly in the UK the level of
RN's is 85-95% compared to 50-55% in the USA. The researchers conclude
there is a need to adopt standardised training requirements in the USA
to ensure the successful implementation of unlicensed staff. Recommendations
in relation to the ratios of unlicensed staff are not discussed.
The impact of unlicensed personnel on the nursing role is a recurrent
theme in the narrative literature. It is suggested that the essence of
nursing will be lost (Needham, 1996 UK) as nurses move away from the bedside
to function in more of a supervisory capacity (Salmond, 1997 USA). This
change is speculated to reduce the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for
nurses from direct patient care (Salmond, 1997 USA). There is also concern
that breaking nursing activities into tasks will lead to a task focus
(Needham, 1996 UK).
Another theme emerging is concern regarding the level of function of
unlicensed staff. Training is considered to be inadequate and unlicensed
staff are practicing beyond their level of training (Salmond, 1997 USA;
Bruser and Whittaker, 1998 USA). Consequently RN's feel they are unable
to trust or delegate to the unlicensed staff (Salmond, 1997 USA). Role
confusion occurs (Salmond, 1997 USA; Bruser and Whittaker, 1998 USA; Needham,
1996 UK) and the quality of patient care is reduced (Keepnews, 1997 USA).
Badovinac, Wilson and Woodhouse (1999 USA) used pre/post tests (NHMRC
level IV) to determine the standard of service delivered by unlicensed
personnel. These researchers surveyed 40 patients, 15 RN's and 9 unlicensed
staff as part of a pilot study to examine the impact of the introduction
of unlicensed staff in a short stay medical-surgical unit. Data was collected
on patients' satisfaction and falls before and after implementation of
unlicensed staff. Additionally, RN satisfaction with the unlicensed staff
care model was measured after implementation. An increase in patient satisfaction
was noted and there was no significant difference in the number of falls.
RN satisfaction was relatively unchanged. The researchers did not explore
factors that may have impacted on these results
In the UK Waters and Watson (1998 UK) interviewed 16 carers, line managers
and nurses to identify the contribution of untrained staff to health care.
Some unlicensed staff believe they do the same task as nurses with the
exception of a few tasks such as medications. Half the managers interviewed
believed the difference between qualification made no difference to quality
of care. And half the managers did not now the differences between some
of the roles. Abbott, Johnson and Lewis (2001 UK) who interviewed 99 continuing
health care patients and /or their carers in 7 districts of England
found that while community care nurses were valued by patients there was
a need for more contact with nurses. The researchers suggest that given
the demands already placed on community nurses, case managers who do not
have health care training may be useful.
A number of narrative papers describe actions required for the successful
introduction of unlicensed staff into health care settings. Authors in
both the UK and the USA suggest that unlicensed staff are here to stay
and recommend that nurses need to adapt to survive (Needham, 1996 UK).
Health care institutions are advised not to underestimate the complexity
of implementing unlicensed staff (Salmond, 1997 USA). The attitude of
existing staff may add significant complexity to the implementation process
(Treml and Schulman, 1999 USA). Small ward-base committees or governance
groups may be useful forums for addressing these issues (Salmond, 1997
USA). Nurses are advised to invest their energy in taking charge of the
change and developing effective systems rather than resisting the change
(Needham, 1996 UK; Salmond, 1997 USA). Nurses may feel marginalised and
have concerns regarding the impact on patient care (Strachan, 2000 UK)
or experience confusion over the new roles and be unaware of the limits
of unlicensed staff (Workman, 1996 UK; Needham, 1996 UK). As identified
in the US research, Registered nurses in the UK may also be concerned
that they are expected to supervise, delegate and mentor unlicensed staff
without having had training in these skills (Poole, 1998 UK; Salmond,
1997 USA).
In a small case study Pischke-Winn and Minnick (1996 USA) describe the
introduction of unit based multiskilled environmental workers into 30
patient care units in a medical centre in the USA. The authors identified
a number of key lessons to assist in the successful implementation of
such a program. In particular they are a clear vision, identification
and working with resistance, visible communication, work redesign and
publication of the project plan. They identified that another essential
component was to involve nurses and to identify nursing and non-nursing
tasks.
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Mental Health Care
The literature reports that political and economic changes in Australia
precipitated the process of deinstutionalization in mental health throughout
the 1980's-1990's (Chapman, 1997 AUS). The narrative by Chapman (1997
AUS) describes the change in services that occurred when asylums were
closed and mental health services were incorporated into mainstream healthcare
facilities. This shift has resulted in a greater emphasis on community
care and aims to provide improved accessibility of services to the general
public. For those clients who do require institutionalized care, length
of stay is significantly reduced in the majority of cases so they are
returning home with community mental health follow-up. Community mental
health nurses and multidisciplinary mental health teams provide these
services.
Changes to service delivery have consequently dictated the clinical skills
required by the healthcare professional. Nurses need to be reflective
in their practice and to hone skills traditionally central in the clinical
practice of other disciplines in the mental health field. Nurses also
have a particular role in liaison with consumers and family who have developed
a significant and active role in the treatment process. The narrative
literature reveals that Mental Health nurses are more commonly being referred
to as specialist nurse practitioners. Evidence at the level of case study
supports this commentary. A case study undertaken in the USA looking at
the introduction of Advanced Practice Nurses into specialty-based teams
produced a positive result (Tucker, Sandvik, Clark, Sikkink, & Stears,
1999 USA). Improvements in team function were reported in areas including
critical thinking, accountability, clinical skill development, and communication
across the continuum of care, education and support for staff, an increase
in the quality and quantity of research projects and presentations at
conferences.
In the literature emanating from the United Kingdom there is an emphasis
on the type of training made available for the Advanced Nurse Practitioner.
Rolfe & Phillips (1996 UK) recommend that this education should be
flexible and ongoing. These authors also report that there still remains
some negative issues with the introduction of Advanced Practice Nurses
in established teams and these are related to fears held by staff about
their own job security and role confusion related to the Advanced Practice
Nurse role.
Advanced Nurse Practitioner roles have been developed further in the
USA where prescriptive authority has been made available for psychopharmacologic
trained and Masters prepared nurses. However, due to the difficulty in
the process of application for prescriptive authority only 21 % of nurses
have received the authority (Kaas, Dahl, Dehn & Frank, 1998). The
role itself is a collaborative prescribing role with the general practitioner
or Psychiatrist but nurses in this role have experienced a poor acceptance
of the role by other healthcare professionals and consumers due to lack
of clarity regarding the role, while other nurses feel uncomfortable with
the role itself. Some of the barriers highlighted by Kaas et al. include
poor financial incentives for these Advanced Nurse Practitioners, a need
for more professional development for nurses in the role and further development
of the role within a setting that is conducive to the role.
In the United Kingdom early intervention programs for consumers in mental
health require that mental health nurses have professional skills in lifestyle
management, medication management, symptom management, personal development,
stress management and self expression (Lloyd, Bassett, & Samra, 2000,
UK). Mental health nursing has also evolved to the point where there is
a greater emphasis on the acquisition of skills in research based clinical
interventions in Advanced Clinical Nursing. Nurses are increasingly undertaking
interventions traditionally undertaken by the psychiatrist and psychologists
(Gournay, Birley & Bennett, 1998, UK: Schneider, Carpenter, &
Brandon, 1999,UK). Counselling is fast becoming a central intervention
for the mental health nurse as opposed to medication management that was
once the core skill of the mental health nurse (Gournay & Gray, 1998,UK).
These new skills are a result of new developments in drug treatment for
the seriously mentally ill consumer and the development of evidence that
medication and psychosocial support produce better treatment outcomes
for consumers. Mental health nursing is changing and is diverse and the
different perceptions held by community mental health nurses on the nature
and focus of service delivery by community mental health nurses are reflected
in the diverse range of post registration programmes (Barr, 2000, UK).
In the United Kingdom public mental health services provide a range of
specialist services that are largely community based, and that are specifically
targeted to people with serious mental illness. Some key responsibilities
of the public mental health system include, assessment, treatment, support,
consultation, transfer of care and communication. Service delivery is
increasingly being provided through a coalition between service providers,
where the general practitioner/psychiatrist and the nurse specialist
work together to improve service accessibility through Primary Health
Care Teams (King & Nazareth, 1996, UK). These teams emphasis a holistic
approach across the continuum of care. The growing demand for nurses to
work in partnerships in various mental health settings is supported by
literature emanating from the UK, USA and Australia that highlights that
these clinical demands can be generated (Ardern, 1999: Thornton, 1999:
White & Brooker, 2001: Chapman, 1997).
Mental health nurses are key figures in mental health teams, where skills
in leadership, communication, multidisciplinary contribution, advanced
clinical skills, health promotion and prevention of mental illness are
required. The 1996 UK National community mental health census of 3421
nurses (reported by White & Brooker, 2001 UK) found there was a 46%
increase in the amount of referrals to community mental health nurses
from general practitioners and psychiatrists. The census also revealed
an increase of 22% in counseling as a clinical intervention by community
mental health nurses. White and Brooker noted that the census revealed
that levels of clinical supervision for community mental health nurses
had increased. However, they suggested that additional pre and post registration
training to enhance evidenced based clinical skills would help better
equip these nurse specialists for increased case loads and role ambiguity
within the service delivery framework.
Forensic Mental Health is another evolving community service in Australia.
Previously service provision to mentally ill offenders was in either the
penal system or a secure unit within an asylum. Today Forensic Mental
Health services are provided by specialist community nurses and in specialty
low security units. Development of the qualifications required to undertake
this specialist role is moving towards more specific forensic nurse training
in the undergraduate curriculum and postgraduate qualifications (Evans
& Wells, 2001 AUS). Changes are seen in pre and postgraduate training,
ongoing professional development, support from other professionals in
the workplace and clinical supervision.
Continued on next page...
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