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Are you studying mental health nursing and want a book that covers all you need to know? Look no further. As it says in the name, this is an essential text for students. Split into 5 parts, this book delves into the context of mental health, key concepts and debates, skills for care and therapeutic approaches, tailoring care to people with specific needs, and transition to practice. Updated to include more content from those with lived experience, this new edition also includes: - Voices of mental health service users and practitioners, giving you a real insight in the field - Critical thinking stop points and debates, allowing you to develop your wider skills and knowledge - Case studies to bring the content to life - Chapter summaries, so you know what the main takeaways are for each chapter - Further reading and useful websites, allowing you to do your own research The editors, Karen M. Wright and Mick McKeown come with a wealth of experience in mental health nursing. The variety of contributors also reflect different experiences in different contexts.

Shared laughter, a joke or banter can be an essential element to positive relationships between patients and nurses. Students represent the present and future of mental health nursing, often having greater patient contact than registered nurses, and this is appreciated by patients. Despite the many benefits of the experience of humour, there are some considerations that are important with regards to risk, particularly in forensic services. Interest in humour and such related interventions began to increase in mental health settings over a decade ago, yet there remains a paucity of consideration of the risks and benefits for students and patients in forensic services, hence exploration in this discussion paper of the wider literature in the context of the time patients and student nurses share in forensic settings, exploring the benefits and risks present. Everyday humour can be influential with regards to building connections and relationships. Hence, exploration of education for students, and promotion of open conversations between patients and mental health nursing students around use of humour is called for.

This hermeneutic phenomenological study illustrates the value of key aspects of interpretative hermeneutics for illuminating the time shared between patients and students in forensic unit for men carrying a personality disorder diagnosis through interviews. The participants were being-with in their own time and space, sharing ordinary activities, common interests and having a laugh; ultimately, making enduring connections. This was despite experiences of thrownness into the world, ward landscapes, or the bearing of diagnostic labels. Students experienced a balance between therapeuticness (leaping-ahead) and professionalism (leaping-in). They were immune to the relational vacuum of the ward office and were viewed as ‘sponges’; reflecting their availability to patients, as opposed to other staff occupying more distant, identity defining set roles. On transition to fully-fledged staff roles, students can become holders of keys, but can weather the ride by treasuring the everyday mundane, being-with and connecting with patients. This temporality of student-patient's relationships encompasses mutual recognition of shared humanness. This hermeneutic phenomenological study uniquely explores the time shared between patients and students in forensic settings. Learnings from their experiences as illuminated using philosophical notions aid our understanding of this time to ensure focus on human connection.

Student mental health nurses have greater patient contact than registered nurses, and this is appreciated by patients. This phenomenological study explored the impact of patients and student mental health nurses’ time shared on forensic units for men carrying a personality disorder diagnosis. Phenomenology was the underpinning philosophy of this research. Patients and student mental health nurses in forensic hospitals participated in unstructured hermeneutic interviews. The time students and patients shared together was considered a gift, enabling them to feel that they were ‘just people’ and valued, strongly impacting on their sense of person. The impact the students have on patients’ quality of life is meaningful. When the students and patients connected, it had powerful implications for their sense of humanness and value, highlighting the reciprocal impact they each have on another and the importance of having student nurse clinical placements in forensic wards and facilities. Implications for Clinical Forensic Nursing Practice: This article offers a unique contribution to forensic practice by exploring the experiences of the time patients and students share together in forensic units. Students, who often have the greatest contact with patients, represent the present and future of nursing, and their time is appreciated by patients. Previous research focuses on attitudes and therapeutic relationships, rather than the impact of shared contact. In addition to this, patients in forensic services with personality disorder diagnoses can be the most stigmatised group in mental health care and exploration of their experiences is lacking. These experiences must be shared.

In this chapter, we focus on the specific role of the mental health nurse in conducting meaningful risk assessment and co-producing a care and safety (risk management) plan. As a core feature of high quality mental health nursing practice, we present a practical formulation approach, clarifying key aspects and considerations through the use of case studies, as adapted from our own practice. THIS CHAPTER COVERS • Ways of thinking of about risk • Using a practical formulation approach to working with risk within mental health practice • Conducting a risk assessment: o accessing and gathering information o considering the presence of historical and recent risk and protective factors o considering the use of structured assessment tools o developing the risk formulation • Working alongside the individual in negotiating a meaningful care and safety plan: o negotiating an action plan o undertaking frequent and regular review o forming a meaningful account • Issues/factors that may facilitate or hinder meaningful risk assessment and risk management.

Background Establishing and maintaining relationships and ways of connecting and being with others is an important component of health and wellbeing. Harnessing the relational within caring, supportive, educational or carceral settings as a systems response has been referred to as relational practice. Practitioners, people with lived experience, academics and policy makers do not yet share a well-defined common understanding of relational practice. Consequently, there is potential for interdisciplinary and interagency miscommunication, as well as the risk of policy and practice being increasingly disconnected. Comprehensive reviews are needed to support the development of a coherent shared understanding of relational practice. Method This study uses a scoping review design providing a scope and synthesis of extant literature relating relational practice focussing on organisational and systemic practice. The review aimed to map how relational practice is used, defined and understood across health, criminal justice, education and social work, noting any impacts and benefits reported. English language articles were included that involve/discuss practice and/or intervention/s that prioritise interpersonal relationships in service provision, in both external (organisational contexts) and internal (how this is received by workers and service users) aspects. Results A total of 8010 relevant articles were identified, of which 158 met the eligibility criteria and were included in the synthesis. Most were opinion based or theoretical argument papers (n = 61, 38.60%), with 6 (3.80%) critical or narrative reviews. A further 27 (17.09%) were categorised as case studies, focussing on explaining relational practice being used in an organisation or a specific intervention and its components, rather than conducting an evaluation or examination of the effectiveness of the service, with only 11 including any empirical data. Of the included empirical studies, 45 were qualitative, 6 wer

Background Wide differences in health exist between places in the UK, underscored by economic inequalities. Preston, a relatively deprived city in England, implemented a new approach to economic development, known as Community Wealth Building. Public and non-profit organisations modified their procurement policies to support the development of local supply chains, improve employment conditions, and increase socially productive use of wealth and assets. We evaluate the impact of this programme on population mental health and wellbeing. Methods Difference-in-differences techniques compared trends in mental health outcomes in Preston, relative to matched control areas before (2011-2015) and after (2016-2019) the introduction of Community Wealth Building. Additional analysis compared local authority measures of life satisfaction, median wages, and employment to synthetic counterfactuals created using Bayesian structural time-series. Findings The introduction of Community Wealth Building was associated with reductions in antidepressant prescribing (1.3 ADQs/person [95%CI, 0.72–1.78]) and depression prevalence (2.4 per 1000 population [95%CI, 0.42–4.46]), relative to the control areas. The local population also experienced a 9% improvement in life satisfaction (95%Cr I, 0%–20%) and 11% increase in median wages (95%Cr I, 2%–19%), relative to expected trends. Associations with employment and mental health related hospital attendance outcomes, did not reach statistical significance. Interpretation During the period in which Community Wealth Building was introduced there were fewer mental health problems than would have been expected compared to other similar areas, as life satisfaction and economic measures improved. This approach potentially provides an effective model for economic regeneration leading to substantial health benefits.

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of a novel offender personality disorder (OPD) higher education programme and the research evaluation results collected over a three-year period. Data from phase 1 was collected from a face-to-face mode of delivery, and phase 2 data collected from the same programme was from an online mode of delivery due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach – In phase 1 three modules were developed and delivered in a fully face-to-face format before the pandemic in 2019-20 (n=52 student participants). In 2020-2021 (n=66 student participants) training was adapted into a fully online mode of delivery in phase 2. This mixed methods study evaluated participant confidence, and compassion. Pre, post, and six months follow up questionnaires were completed. Qualitative interviews were conducted across both phases to gain in-depth feedback on this programme (Phase 1 N=7 students, Phase 2 N=2 students N= 5 Leaders). Data from phase one (face to face) and phase 2 (online) are synthesised for comparison. Findings –In phase 1 (N=52) Confidence in working with people with personality disorder or associated difficulties improved significantly, whilst compassion did not change. In phase 2 (N=66) these results were replicated, with statistically significant improvements in confidence reported.. Compassion however in phase 2 reduced at six month follow up. Results have been integrated and have assisted in shaping the future of modules to meet learning needs of students. Originality – This paper provides a comparison of a student evaluated training programme thus providing insights into the impact of delivering a relational focussed training programme in both face to face and online distant learning delivery modes. From this pedagogic research evaluation, we were able to derive unique insights into the outcomes of this programme. Research Implications – Further research into the impact of different modes of delivery are import

Background: Community engagement has shown to be fundamental component of the response to previous disease outbreaks. This study aimed co-design and implement a culturally appropriate COVID-19 risk communication and community engagement strategy with a resource-poor rural community in Northwest Pakistan. Methods: Participatory Action Research (PAR) was conducted from January 2021 to March 2022. Five PAR meetings took place with community members (n = 30) to: (1) explore how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the community; (2) identify challenges to limit the spread of the virus; (3) identify and implement solutions to these challenges; and (4) highlight the enablers, challenges and knowledge of the cultural context needed to optimize safety during emergencies. Focus group discussions (N = 6) with community members not involved in the PAR meetings (N = 50) and children of the community (N = 26) were conducted following the PAR meetings. Thematic analysis of the PAR and focus group data was conducted. Results: Delivery of messages on how to keep families safe, provision of personal protective equipment and improved water systems were part of the strategies taken by the community to create awareness and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Nine themes were identified: Attitudes to the pandemic: From skepticism to acceptance, Changing attitudes about vaccination: rumors and trust, COVID-19 and Faith, Social impact of the pandemic, Access to water, Resource mobilization: personal protective equipment, Spaces where collaborative effort can bring to solutions, Agents of change, and Empowerment of women. Discussion: The participatory approach of this research allowed understanding of the challenges faced by the community to engage in behavior change strategies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and enabled the community to find sustainable solutions. Engagement with the community empowered men and women to be agents of change and promoted necessary precautionary actions to reduce t

In recent decades concerns about violence and programs for the minimization of physical restraint, amongst other restrictive practices, have proliferated within mental health policy and practice. Whilst nurses are often called upon when violence occurs within mental health care settings, they often find themselves having the conflicting roles of caring and controlling. Within such situations it is service users, who are experts by experience, who perhaps can offer more meaningful insight into being restrained and thus provide a more appropriate approach in dealing with mental distress. This paper presents the findings of a narrative study of individuals' experiences of physical restraint within the mental health care system. In total 11 mental health service users, who had experienced physical restraint, were interviewed. Frank's (2010, Letting stories breathe: a socio-narratology) guiding questions were used to undertake a dialogical narrative analysis of each story. For the purpose of this paper, four of the 11 stories are presented as these are representative of Frank's ‘quest narrative’. However, whilst studies from the service user perspective regarding restraint are scarce, findings are discussed in relation to the grand narrative of restraint. The dialogical relationship between individual stories and the dominant grand narrative implies that the former has the capacity to shape and review the latter within mental health care. Adding to the growing body of evidence of restraint from service users' perspectives could enable nurses to provide more appropriate and meaningful mental health care in times of mental distress. [238].

This discussion paper offers a critical provocation to my mental health nursing colleagues. Drawing upon David Graeber’s account of bullshit work, work that is increasingly meaningless for workers, I pose the question: is mental health nursing a bullshit job? Ever-increasing time spent on record keeping as opposed to direct care appears to represent a Graeberian bullshitisation of mental health nurses’ work. In addition, core aspects of the role are not immune from bullshit. Professional rhetoric would have us believe that mental health nursing is a therapeutically beneficent occupation organised around ideals of care and compassion and providing fulfilling work for practitioners. Yet, there are some key characteristics of the experience of mental health nursing work that afford alternative judgements on its value and meaningfulness. Not least of these is the fact that many mental health nurses feel quite existentially unsettled in the practise of their work and many service users do not recognise the professional ideal, especially when compelled into increasingly coercive and restrictive services. In this context, Graeber’s thesis is explored for its applicability to mental health nursing with a conclusion that many aspects of mental health nursing work are commensurate with bullshit but that mental health care can possibly be redeemed from bullshitisation by authentically democratising reforms. Engaging with posthumanist ideas, this exploration involves a flexing of aspects of Graeber’s theory.