A view of the English mental health nursing review from the South East Asian Pacific Rim

Abstract

Two documents brought to my attention recently provide a clear reflection of the health of mental health nursing in England: From values to action: The Chief Nursing Officer’s review of mental health nursing (Department of Health, 2006); and The ten essential shared capabilities: learning pack for mental health practice (NHSU, 2005). The former are recommendations for guiding the development of Mental Health Nursing (MHN) over the next 10 years, the latter are values for encouraging the contribution of service users into mental health care. Both are serious documents, which address contemporary mental health care concerns and not only build on decades of research and discourse but also reflect the immediate needs of mental health care in England. How these are implemented provides another major challenge for the NHS, but if the directions advocated are followed, then mental health nursing in England is certainly enlightened and a beacon for those of us working in countries where governments do not have mental health services and mental health nursing placed so high on the health agenda. In this editorial, I will present a view of the Chief Nursing Officer’s (CNO’s) review from the Pacific Rim, or at least a view from one area of the Pacific Rim: South East Asia.