Mental Health Practice
Editor's choice
WHO’s diagnostic descriptions can alienate mental health service users
Descriptions do not always reflect people’s mental health experiences
Read the latest digital edition
Your environmentally-friendly digital edition comes with links to further resources and access to previous issues.
Read digital editionNewsroom
Nurse bodycam use shows reduction in some violent incidents at mental health trust
Study shows a decrease in patient restraint and tranquilisation when nurses wore cameras
RCN demands action on bullying in Scottish health service
Parliamentary debate on the issue sparks call for culture change
NMC receives 34 whistleblowing disclosures in 2018/19
Report reveals how the nurse regulator dealt with whistleblowers' concerns
Irish nurses will be ‘prime targets’ for UK recruiters post-Brexit, union says
Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation warns government to improve working conditions
Nightingale Museum’s new exhibit aims to inspire next generation of nurses
Interactive family corner asks young visitors ‘could you become a Nightingale Nurse?’
RCN council elections: some college members receive wrong ballot paper
Correct papers will be posted to people who received one for wrong constituency
Evidence and Practice
Well-being, physical and mental health: Helping service users cope with schizophrenia
Part 3 of our series explores the causes of schizophrenia and how it can lead to self-neglect
Restrictive interventions: a service evaluation
Background Restrictive interventions (RIs) are defined as the use of deliberate acts that...
Resettlement experiences of African migrants and how they affect mental health
African migrants' mental health and future aspirations after resettling in Australia
Nursing care plans in mental health
An exploration of best practice in co-creating recovery-orientated care plans
Development of a behavioural assessment tool for use in forensic mental health services
This article presents the Forensic Functional Assessment Measure (FFAM): a tool to assess...
Positive behaviour support: exploring the experiences of nurses
Nurses should be encouraged to take a lead in the formulation of PBS plans and their delivery
Features
Mature students are vital to mental health nursing – but numbers are dropping
Financial pressures put older potential candidates off mental health nursing as a career
Team offers intensive support to enable service-users to live independently
Rehabilitation by award-winning team enables people with mental illness to live at home
How one nurse helped break the taboo of talking about sex in mental healthcare settings
Rachel Luby impresses RCNi Nurse Awards judges with her determination and approach
The mental health conference that felt more like a festival
Student-led conference on mental health nursing incorporated yoga, dance and social media
My role in the review of forensic mental health services
Chair of the review Derek Barron talks to Mental Health Practice
Hospital opens door to fresh start for patients with personality disorder
A hospital’s ‘open door’ helps people with emotionally unstable personality disorder to cope
Opinion
Mental health transformation plan limited by nurse numbers
Ambitious NHS plan fails to acknowledge 'workforce hill we all must climb'...
Taking the service to the service user could improve rural access to mental healthcare
Roving clinics can help provide care in remote places to combat loneliness and isolation
Why we need to hear maverick voices more in mental health nursing
In the 2019 Skellern Lecture, Mick McKeown argues for better services and a better world
Students
On the front line with a paramedic
A day spent shadowing a paramedic showed the complex range of skills this role requires, and...
What to do when words fail
Communication problems are not uncommon when people with complex needs are admitted to hospital, and one nursing student is creating a toolkit that will include tips from specialists and signposting to additional support
Going outside your comfort zone can help connect with patients
By learning more about football, mental health nursing student Felicity Allman was able to build up a therapeutic relationship with a patient with paranoid schizophrenia.
Careers
Mental health and dementia lead
Gill Drummond reflects on her career and what makes a good mental health nurse
Senior staff nurse on a general psychiatric, female-only ward
I have an instinctive desire to provide care and support to people, says Risq Animasaun
Advanced nurse practitioner in personality disorder
Jodie Alder explains why she chose to work in secure services for men