Inter-branch initiative to improve children’s mental health

Abstract

Pre-registration nursing programmes have been criticized for not adequately preparing nurses to work with children and young people with mental health issues. This article highlights the importance of developing strategies across traditional branch boundaries to remedy this curricula deficit. In 2007, the School of Health Science at Swansea University began an interprofessional initiative between mental health and child branches and designed a 2-day child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) workshop in collaboration with a local specialist CAMHS nurse. The purpose of the workshop was to raise students' awareness of child and adolescent mental health issues, to provide the opportunity for students to meet local CAMHS providers and to promote interprofessional practice. This workshop has been delivered successfully for the past 2 years, has been favourably evaluated by students, and is now a regular part of the curriculum. The authors believe that the inter-branch workshop may provide a template for other higher education institutions with large undergraduate populations to promote learning around child and adolescent mental health issues in a unique way.

Training of children and adolescents’ mental health nursing for nursing students in Japan

“…Children and adolescents' mental health nursing has not been positioned in the curriculum of nursing schools but there are several educational trials; interactive workshops including role play with professionals of children and adolescents' mental health services [14,15] and placement in a clinical setting of children and adolescents' mental health services. [16] Richardson [16] stated that the most obvious benefits of the placements were the opportunities to observe different ways of interacting with children and adolescents with mental health problems and of the modelling provided by professionals.…”

Using simulated practice in pre-registration education to explore mental health issues

“…Pre-registration nursing programmes have been criticised for not preparing student nurses to work with young people with mental health problems (Terry et al, 2009). While acknowledging there are challenges, it can be a basis from which students will develop their confidence when working with young people.…”