Drafting a new curriculum for pre-registration nursing

Abstract

The PasT year has been a watershed year for mental health nursing. schools of nursing are drafting the new pre-registration curriculum that will shape the identity, direction and future of the specialty. This vital task is being undertaken in the context of constrained budgets in higher education institutions (heIs) and in the Nhs, and takes account of the needs of the influential adult nursing specialty and the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) guidance on competencies. Other mental health policy drivers include the review of mental health nursing in scotland, which culminated in Rights, Relationships and Recovery: Refreshed (Mental health Delivery and services 2010), an update of the original policy document of the same name (scottish executive 2006). The National Framework for Pre-Registration Mental health Nursing Programmes in scotland (Nhs education for scotland 2007) also guides programme and placement providers in heIs and mental health services. The document was produced jointly by practitioners, service users, carers and representatives from all heIs in scotland to apply agreed standards to all pre-registration programmes. These policies, and analogous drivers across the UK, are constantly defining and developing the roles, values and attitudes of mental health nurses, and hence the expectations of a graduate’s competencies. Mental health nurses care for one of the most marginalised and disempowered groups in our communities. Training and education prepare them to respond effectively to the needs of these people, to ensure their voices are heard. If this is not successful, there is a danger that service users’ needs will not be met, and that the specialist mental health nursing profession will be downgraded. The NMC’s UK-wide consultation (NMC 2008, 2010) appeared to favour the abolition of training in separate branches of nursing, but a switch to generic training was overwhelmingly rejected by respondents. The consultation then drafted both generic and specialised fields of competency for degree-level pre-registration training, with shared learning. The mental health nursing profession must remain alert to the need to promote specialised mental health nursing education. Mental health nursing increasingly emphasises care in the community, multi-agency community services, out-of-hours and crisis response teams and wider access to talk-based therapies. In scotland, this has been part of the shifting the Balance of Care initiative (Nhs scotland 2009). Older people’s wellbeing, involving mental health problems and dementia, is a priority in balancing care.