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Mental health policy in Australia is committed to the development of recovery-focused services and facilitating consumer participation in all aspects of mental health service delivery. Negative attitudes of mental health professionals have been identified as a major barrier to achieving these goals. Although the education of health professionals has been identified as a major strategy, there is limited evidence to suggest that consumers are actively involved in this education process. The aim of this qualitative study was to evaluate students' views and opinions at having been taught 'recovery in mental health nursing' by a person with a lived experience of significant mental health challenges. In-depth interviews were held with 12 students. Two main themes were identified: (i) 'looking through fresh eyes' - what it means to have a mental illness; and (ii) 'it's all about the teaching'. The experience was perceived positively; students referred to the impact made on their attitudes and self-awareness, and their ability to appreciate the impact of mental illness on the individual person. Being taught by a person with lived experience was considered integral to the process. This innovative approach could enhance consumer participation and recovery-focused care.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic posed and continues to pose challenges for health care systems globally, particularly to Intensive Care Units (ICU). At the forefront of the ICU are highly trained nurses with a professional obligation to care for patients with COVID-19 despite the potential to become infected. The aim of this study was to explore ICU nurses’ willingness to care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study to explore ICU nurses’ willingness to provide care during the COVID-19 pandemic was undertaken between 25 March to 3 April 2020 at a large principal and referral teaching hospital in Sydney, NSW Australia. Results A total of 83 ICU nurses completed the survey. Approximately 60% reported receiving sufficient information from managers regarding COVID-19 and about caring for a patient with COVID-19. Ninety percent of nurses were concerned about spreading COVID-19 to their family. Sixty one percent of the nurses indicated that they were willing to care for patients with COVID-19. Receiving timely communication from managers was the only predictor of willingness to care among ICU nurses. Conclusions Effective communication is a vital component during a public health emergency in order to promote nurses’ willingness to care for patients in the ICU.

The Australian Mental Health Nurse Education Taskforce conducted a national examination of mental health content of preregistration nursing curricula in order to develop a framework for including mental health in future curricula. This paper presents the qualitative findings from national consultations about the framework. Content analysis of data was undertaken, and the findings show four key themes. First, the mental health content of curricula should be increased; second, overall mental health nursing leadership should be strengthened; third, mental health consumer participation should be increased in all aspects of curricula; and finally, a repository should be established for mental health teaching resources.

Medication errors have been the focus of considerable research attention in nursing; however, the extent to which nursing students might contribute to errors has not been researched. Using a grounded theory approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with undergraduate nursing students based in a university in Queensland to explore their experiences of administering medication in the clinical setting. Almost a third of the participants reported making an actual medication error or a near miss. Where medication errors occurred, participants described not receiving direct and appropriate supervision by a registered nurse. Medication errors by nursing students have the potential to impact significantly on patient safety, quality of health care, and on nursing students' perceptions of their professional competence. Ensuring direct supervision is provided at all times must become an urgent priority for undergraduate nursing education.

Such findings are important as they provide information for student nurses, preceptors and educators in guiding clinical placement experiences that are able to facilitate the development of the nursing identity.

ObjectivesTo summarise the evidence relating to the prevalence of anxiety and depression among healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignAn umbrella review of systematic reviews was undertaken using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methods.Data sourcesThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews, JBI Evidence Synthesis, MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL were searched in March 2021 for reviews published in English.Eligibility criteriaSystematic reviews reporting the prevalence of anxiety and depression among HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two researchers screened each abstract and independently reviewed full text articles. Study quality was assessed using the JBI critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews, and the degree of overlap in primary studies was calculated.ResultsTen systematic reviews (100 unique studies), including 169 157 HCWs from 35 countries were included. The prevalence of anxiety among all HCWs ranged from 22.2% (95% CI 21.3% to 23.1%) to 33.0% (95% CI 31.9% to 34.1%). The prevalence of anxiety among physicians (n=5820) was reported to be between 17% and 19.8% and for nurses (n=14 938) between 22.8% and 27%. The prevalence of depression among all HCWs ranged from 17.9% (95% CI 17.1% to 18.8%) to 36% (95% CI 34.9% to 37.1%). The prevalence of depression among physicians (n=643) and nurses (n=8063) was reported to be 40.4% and 28%, respectively.ConclusionsThere is wide variation evident in the presence of anxiety and depression among HCWs. In particular, the prevalence of depression among physicians was high. Strategies to reduce the incidence of anxiety and depression are urgently required.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42021238960.

In Australian emergency departments, the triage of people with physical illness and injury is well developed and supported by the Australasian Triage Scale. The Australasian Triage Scale contains brief descriptors of mental illness and it is unknown if these provide the same reliability in triage decision-making for emergency triage nurses assessing people with a mental illness. Specialist mental health triage scales have been developed to cater for this deficit and to aid emergency staff who have lacked training in the assessment and management of people with a mental illness. A review of the development of mental health triage scales and their use in Australia identifies that using a mental health triage scale improves the competence and confidence of emergency department staff in triaging people with mental illness. Despite this, there is no consistent national approach to the emergency triage of people with a mental illness. There is ad hoc use of mental health triage scales and there are few reports of improvements in service provision to this client group as a result of the use of a mental health triage scale. These findings suggest that despite the intentions of the National Mental Health Strategy, a lack of equity remains in emergency departments in the provision of care to people with a mental illness who make up one in five of adult Australians. Consideration should be given to the introduction of a national approach to the use of a mental health triage scale in Australian emergency departments.