Service users and mental health nursing

A better understanding of the views of service users has become increasingly relevant in providing mental health services and for the role of the mental health nurse in meeting users' needs. The four key issues that this research endeavoured to address were: (1) What are the views and perceived needs of users of mental health services in the context of the role that users see nurses fulfilling? (2) How do student nurses perceive their future role given the changes in nurse prepartion? (3) To what extent do the answers to the first two questions converge and/or diverge? (4) Recommend actions on ways in which mental health nurse training could be improved, in light of the findings of this research. Methodologically, both qualitative and quantitative data gathering approaches were used, the former for stage one in setting the agenda and the latter for stage two by means of questionnaires. The findings indicate that the key concerns for users are issues of choice, individuality, information and quality of care in terms of positive interpersonal relationships with those who have responsibilities for helping them and who are sensitive to their real needs. Users are not asking for any costly or extravagant therapies but support that is relevant to their needs and provided in a compassionate manner. The context of their lives and the degree to which users feel integrated into society is a prominent concern. These findings have implications for how mental health nurses are educated and trained and how on qualifying they function in practice. The findings throw into question whether mental health nursing can adapt to the desired changes that are being called for.