Introducing skills for psychosocial interventions into undergraduate mental health nurse education
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17556228200800014 |
| Published date | 01 June 2008 |
| Pages | 42-51 |
| Date | 01 June 2008 |
| Author | Gemma Stacey,Lorraine Rayner |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
42
Introducing skills for psychosocial
interventions into undergraduate
mental health nurse education
Abstract
This paper describes how psychosocial
interventions (PSI) have been integrated into an
undergraduate mental health nursing programme.
The first part of the paper provides the broad
context of PSI in nurse education and justifies the
need to incorporate skills for PSI into the
undergraduate nursing curriculum. A variety of
educational theories and research are presented,
which have informed the development, structure
and delivery of the skills programme underpinned
by PSI into the undergraduate programme. The
successes and limitations of this skills programme
are considered in light of the key issues and
challenges concerning the integration of PSI skills
into undergraduate nursing education.
Key words
mental health; nursing; psychosocial interventions;
undergraduate education; clinical skills
Background
Mental health care has undergone dramatic change and
there has been growing demand to have a workforce
capable of providing a ‘modern mental health service’ (DoH,
1998; 1999; 2006a). The development of mental health
foundation trusts has also provided an impetus to ensure
that services provide high-quality, evidence-based,
effective care that meets national clinical and quality
standards (Health & Social Care [Community health &
Standards] Act 2003). Training in evidence-based
psychosocial interventions (PSI) has grown to meet this
demand. PSI training has been carefully evaluated
(Carpenter et al, 2007). However, these evaluations have
focused on learners’ reactions, acquisition of knowledge
and skills and impact on service user outcomes. There is
little guidance on how best to introduce and teach these
skills in the classroom and facilitate their use in practice.
Nurses are the largest profession in the mental health
workforce, therefore it is vital to explore how nurses are
acquiring the clinical skills needed to successfully use PSI
in routine practice (DoH, 2006a).
It is a decade since Gournay and Birley (1998)
identified the need for undergraduate mental health
nursing programmes to focus on evidence-based PSI and
the clinical skills required to deliver these interventions.
Since then the literature reveals that the main emphasis
has been on postgraduate training. Surveys and reviews of
PSI training have been confined to postgraduate PSI
programmes (Brooker, 2002; Brooker et al, 2002;
Couldwell & Stickley, 2007). Similarly, evaluations of
training have focused solely on postgraduate courses
(Fadden, 1997; Lancashire et al, 1997; Gray et al, 2001;
Carpenter et al, 2007). There appears to be little if any
published evidence to show how evidence-based PSI are
being integrated into the undergraduate nursing
curriculum. This is surprising given that during the past
decade mental health policy has focused on service
provision for people who experience serious mental
health problems. The National Service Framework for Mental
Health in England (DoH, 1999) and Modernising Mental
Health Services (DoH, 1998) both highlight the need for
better trained staff to ensure that effective interventions
are offered to service users and their families.
A range of policy reports and documents have been
published setting out the type of practitioners required to
deliver contemporary mental health services (SCMH,
2000; DoH, 2004a; DoH, 2004b). The document, The 10
Essential Shared Capabilities (DoH, 2004a) is of particular
relevance as it specifies what should be included in all
undergraduate training. It achieves this by providing in
Gemma Stacey and Lorraine Rayner
University of Nottingham
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice Volume 3 Issue 2 June 2008 © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
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