Division of Nursing

Division of Nursing

Mental Health Research Group

Evaluation of Chief Nursing Officer Review of Mental Health Nursing

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Nurses are the biggest professional group in mental health in the UK. They are recognised as central to delivering helpful services. Their work is valued highly by users. Several health, social care and legal changes in recent years mean that nurses are now thinking of the best way of continuing to provide the nursing care users and carers need. To help nurses in this task, the Government’s Chief Nursing Officer for England carried out a review of mental health nursing by asking users, carers, nurses, and other interested groups, about their views of mental health nursing. After doing this, the Government issued a report recommending 16 ways for services to improve mental health nursing for the benefit of users and carers.

Recently, the Government asked for proposals to consider how Trusts are doing in meeting these recommendations; this is the aim of our study. Working in partnership users and carers, we will first carry out a survey of mental health services, including Universities, and ask them how they are doing in using the Chief Nursing Officer's recommendations. We will then choose a small number of services and explore with them in some detail what enables them to use the recommendations, and what stops them. At this time, and again with the help of users, we will suggest ways to help them use the recommendations. Once we have done this, we will then do another survey to see if services are using the recommendations any better. Once we have examined the results we will be in a position to advise services, and the Government, on what are the best ways of using the Chief Nursing Officer’s recommendations so that service users and carers get a better mental health service.