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Background: Understanding student attitudes towards people diagnosed with mental illness is central to realising evidence-based nursing education and policy at an international level. Redressing stigmatised views can assist in preparing nursing students to work in mental health settings and support the active involvement of consumers in all aspects of mental health service delivery (known as: consumer participation) at individual and systemic levels. Accurate research on nursing student attitudes is dependent on the availability of valid and reliable measures., Objectives: Using data from and international study, this research sought to: (1) evaluate two measures of nurse student attitudes, and (2) explore whether attitudes to people labelled with a diagnosis of mental illness and who use mental health services is associated with more positive attitudes to consumer participation in mental health services., Design: Self-report quantitative data gained via the Consumer Participation Questionnaire (CPQ) and Mental Health Nurse Education Survey (MHNES)., Setting and Participants: University nursing students in Australia and Western Europe., Data: Pooled CPQ and MHNES data from Australia, Ireland, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands., Methods: The MHNES and CPQ were evaluated via exploratory factor analysis and Rasch modelling. Hierarchical regression was applied to see whether attitudes to mental illness and mental health practice relate to attitudes to consumer participation after addressing demographic differences., Results: Refined MHNES scales demonstrated overall fit on Rasch models. Reliabilities for MHNES ranged from 0.82 to 0.73. Perceived value of mental health nursing to consumers and lower negative stereotypes were associated with positive attitudes to consumer participation independent of age, gender and country [F (9, 381) = 15.78, p < .001]. Students who considered mental health nursing made a valuable contribution represented the strongest association with a positive attitude towards consumer participation., Conclusions: Differences in openness to consumer participation are partly attributable to views about people diagnosed with mental illness and the perception that mental health practice makes a positive difference to these people within health service contexts., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Australian national mental health strategy emphasises inclusion of people diagnosed with mental illness in all areas of mental health care, policy development and education of health professionals. However, the way this inclusion has translated to Australian universities is relatively unexplored., Objectives: Explore views of nurse academics regarding service user involvement in nursing education programmes., Design: Qualitative exploratory., Settings: Australian universities offering educational programmes in nursing at postgraduate and undergraduate levels., Participants: Thirty four participants from 27 Australian universities participated., Methods: Data were collected using semi-structured telephone interviews with academics involved in teaching and/or coordinating undergraduate and/or postgraduate mental health nursing contents. Data were analysed using content analysis based on four cognitive processes: comprehending, synthesising, theorising and re-contextualising data., Results: Four major themes emerged: good idea? long way to go; conceptualising the service user academic role; strengths of lived experience led student learning; and barriers to implementation., Conclusions: Findings indicated strong support for including mental health service users in teaching nursing students. However, at most universities service user engagement was often an informal arrangement, lacking clear guidelines and limited by financial barriers and the positioning of mental health nursing within curricula., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: People diagnosed with serious mental illness have higher rates of physical morbidity and decreased longevity, yet these people are not adequately served by health care systems. Nurses may provide improved physical health support to consumers with serious mental illness but this is partly dependent on nurses having necessary skills and interest in training opportunities for this component of their work. This survey investigated Australian nurses' interest in training across areas of physical health care including lifestyle factors, cardiovascular disease, and identifying health risks., Methods: A nation-wide online survey of nurse members of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. The survey included an adapted version of a sub-section of the Physical Health Attitudes Scale. Participants were asked to indicate their interest in various aspects of physical health care training., Results: Most (91.6%) participants viewed educating nurses in physical health care as of moderate or significant value in improving the physical health of people with serious mental illness. Interest in training in all areas of physical health care was over 60% across the health care settings investigated (e.g. public, private, primary care). Forty-two percent sought training in all nine areas of physical health care, from supporting people with diabetes, to assisting consumers with sexually-related and lifestyle issues., Conclusions: The findings suggest that nurses in mental health services in Australia acknowledge the importance of training to improve physical health care of consumers with serious mental illness. Training programs and learning opportunities for nurses are necessary to reduce inequalities in health of people with serious mental illness., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The mental health content of undergraduate nursing programs has consistently been identified as inadequate in preparing graduate nurses with the knowledge and skills for, and interest in, a career in mental health nursing. Since the introduction of generic nursing education, undergraduate programs have become primarily focused on the development of generalist skills, with specialisation occurring at postgraduate level. The integration of mental health services within the broader health care system in Australia has led to a significant increase in the prevalence of mental health problems within the general health care setting. The relevant literature suggests that nurses are not well prepared to meet the mental health care needs of this population. The aim of this paper is to briefly outline the incidence of mental health problems within the general health care system, the implications for nursing, and the potential role which nursing could play in recognising, and providing appropriate care for the treatment of mental health problems. The implications for nursing education, and the need for mental health nursing skills to be considered essential for all nurses will be discussed.