Poster 23: What do Mental Health Nurses think and feel when the service user becomes their student nurse: Is it really ok not to be ok?

Maile, Carolyn; White, Jacquie

Abstract

Background: Increasing numbers of higher education students declare pre-existing mental health conditions that require support and reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 (Hubble and Bolton, 2021)). Research with mental health student nurses [MHSN]who have been mental health service users highlights the collective responsibility of programme and practice providers to remove barriers to disclosure and learning for these students (Ramluggan et al, 2020). Mental health nurse practice assessors [MHPAs] may not be adequately prepared to support the needs of this cohort, and we cannot rely on clinical supervision to address this need (Masamha et al, 2022).
Aims: To apply an action learning approach to collectively reflect on and learn from student cases where the SMHN has a pre-existing mental health condition and has used services within the practice provider organisation where they are due to be placed.
Methods: An email of concern about one student case illustrated the need to focus on practice support for SMHNs - ‘we wonder if there is a conflict of interest with this student attending practice”. The MHPA had nursed the MHSN during a past episode of care, and other members of the placement team had knowledge of their care and opinions about their fitness for practice. We implemented a new collective group meeting process to open dialogue with MHPAs about student cases using a supportive and psychologically safe action learning cycle process. We learned the importance of taking time to explore the fears expressed by the MHPAs and their team and worked to reframe their emotions before they were able to discuss and agree reasonable adjustments for the individual student and negotiate a learning plan with them.
Results: A reflection on a specific case enabled our team to consider the needs of MHPAs, alongside student learning needs through a collective action learning cycle approach.
Conclusions: Further formal research is required to address the ‘elephant in the room’ of self-perpetuating stigma for MHNSs with pre-existing mental health conditions and use of services that may fuel discrimination in practice, considering the question ‘is it really OK, not to be OK?’

Citation

Maile, C., & White, J. (2022, September). Poster 23: What do Mental Health Nurses think and feel when the service user becomes their student nurse: Is it really ok not to be ok?. Poster presented at 28th International Mental Health Nursing Research Conference (MNHR), Oxford

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: 28th International Mental Health Nursing Research Conference (MNHR)
• Start Date: Sep 8, 2022
• End Date: Sep 9, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 15, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 2, 2024
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4057096