The fabric of a career in mental health nursing from an Australian and UK perspective

Warelow, P., Edward, K.L., Hercelinskyj, G., Welch, T., Hemingway, Steve, McAndrew, S. and Stephenson, John (2012) The fabric of a career in mental health nursing from an Australian and UK perspective. In: ACMHN's 38th Annual International Mental Health Nursing Conference, 3rd-5th October 2012, Darwin, Australia.

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Abstract

As the prevalence of mental illness increases globally, Australia and the
United Kingdom (UK) share concerns regarding the recruitment and
retention of nurses to the fi eld of mental health care. The level of preparedness
of nurses is thought to have a bearing on recruitment and
retention in mental health nursing practice. This study sought to
uncover what Australian and UK undergraduate students perceived as
motivational in choosing a career in, and being prepared for, working in
mental health settings.
METHOD This study employed mixed methods, using a questionnaire
comprising of both quantitative and qualitative questions. Quantitative
data was analysed using SPSS (V.16.0) and content analysis was undertaken
for analysing the qualitative data.
FINDINGS Following ethical approval, data was collected from, four
universities in Australia and two in the UK. A total of 447 undergraduate
nursing and midwifery students, who had completed a mental health
placement, completed the questionnaire. Findings revealed that motivational
factors infl uencing their interest in mental health nursing were
clinical experience (49.7%), personal/life experiences (42.9%) and the
role of the lecturer (23%). However, 47.7% of all participants had some
previous experience of mental illness, with only 18.4% having had work
experience in the fi eld prior to starting their course.
IMPLICATIONS This study adds to extant knowledge of what encourages
people to choose a career trajectory in mental health nursing and
what could be harnessed with regard to retention. The knowledge
gained from these fi ndings is useful in informing recruitment processes
and can also inform curriculum.

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