Overview

Editors:

Nicholas G Proctor
School of Nursing and Midwifery
University of South Australia, SA

Barbara E Wolfe
William F Connell School of Nursing
Boston College, MA, USA

Mental ill health represents not only an immense psychological, social and economic burden to society, but also increases the risk and complexity of physical illnesses. Recognising that neuropsychiatric conditions account for 13% of total Disability Adjusted Life Years lost globally, and are estimated to increase to 15% by 2020 (WHO 2004), this book addresses the dynamic nature of professional mental health nursing across the lifespan.

Effective mental health care delivery is brought into sharp focus with the release of the Australian Senate Select Committee Report on Mental Health in March 2006. This specially commissioned issue of Contemporary Nurse considers mental health nursing from consumer, nursing practice and community health perspectives. It concludes with recommendations for nurse education, workplace training, and delivery of community care.

Violence, 'difficult to treat' disorders, cultural sensitivity, safety of psychotropic medications and application of mental health services in non-mental health settings are addressed from North American, Australian and New Zealand perspectives, which work to build evidence-based research to inform effective mental health practice.

Table of Contents

Advances in Contemporary Mental Health Nursing

Foreword: Consumers, Practice, Interventions and Education in Mental Health Nursing
Sandra Talley

Preface: Mental Health Nursing for Individual, Community and Organisational Benefit
Nicholas G Procter

Consumers And Mental Health

Guest Editorial: Reason, Commonsense and Imagination in the Service of our Shared Humanity
Kenneth Walsh PhD

In Our Own Words: Consumers' views on the reality of consumer participation in mental health care
Val Goodwin, Brenda Happell

Consumer Evaluation of a Mental Health Liaison Nurse Service in the Emergency Department
Timothy Wand, Peter Schaecken

Moving Toward Culturally Sensitive Services for Indigenous People: A non-Indigenous mental health nursing perspective
Anthony (Tony) P O'Brien

A Randomised Controlled Trial Testing the Impact of Exercise on Cognitive Symptoms and Disability of Residents with Dementia
John Stevens, Mark Killeen

Mental Health Nursing Practice

Guest Editorial: Defining Our Scope of Practice
Stephen Elsom

Attitudes of Registered Psychiatric Nurses Towards Patients Diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder
Cecil Deans, Elizabeth Meocevic

Workplace Practices with Mental Health Implications Impacts on Recruitment and Retention of Overseas Nurses in the Context of Nursing Shortages
Akram Omeri

Best Practice Management Strategies for Mental Health Nurses During the Clinical Application of Civil Commitment: An Overview
Brian G McKenna, Alexanda IF Simpson, John H Coverdale

Violence Against Psychiatric Nurses: Sensitive research as science and intervention
Marilyn Lewis Lannza, Robert Zeiss, Jill Rierdan

Community-Based Postpartum Depression Screening Within the First Month After Delivery
June Andrews Horowitz

The Use of Psychotropic Medications with Breastfeeding Women: Applying the available evidence
Kim Usher, Kim Foster

Dementia Related Aggression in the Acute Sector: Is a Code Black really the answer?
Jacqueline Jones, Sally Borbasi, Alan Nankivell, Craig Lockwood

Mental Health Nursing Education

Guest Editorial: Reflections on Mental Health Nursing Education
Dianne Wynaden

Managing the 'Unmanageable': Training staff in the use of dialectical behaviour therapy for borderline personality disorder
Mike Hazelton, Rachel Rossiter, Julie Milner

Creating Supportive Environments for Mental Health Promotion in the Workplace
Patricia Barkway

Mental Health Nursing in New Zealand Primary Health Care
Anthony J O'Brien, Frances A Hughes, Jacquie D Kidd

Educating Mental Health Nurses in Clinical Settings: Tackling the challenge
Michelle Cleary, Garry Walter

Epilogue

Advances in Contemporary Mental Health Nursing: A Continuous Process
Barbara E Wolfe

Book Reviews

Mental Health Care for People with Learning Disabilities
Helena Priest and Michael Gibbs
Reviewed by Jan Walmsley