A mental health nursing transition program for enrolled nurses at a forensic mental health hospital

Abstract

Objective: There are difficulties in recruiting enrolled nurses to mental health positions. A six month program was developed with the aim to bridge possible knowledge gaps for enrolled nurses, and to provide them practical support to consolidate skills and knowledge for nursing in a forensic mental health hospital.

Setting: The setting was a 116 bed secure forensic mental health hospital in the state of Victoria, Australia.

Subjects: Nine enrolled nurses who had completed a Diploma of Nursing, were recruited into the program.

Primary argument: There is a national decrease in enrolled nursing supply, and a paucity of data exploring the training needs of enrolled nurses transitioning from the Diploma to a mental health nursing role. Nursing programs are required to assist enrolled nurses with the knowledge and skills, and support required to effectively make their transition into mental health nursing.

Conclusion: The results demonstrate the importance in providing a program to assist enrolled nurses transition to mental health and that the mental health course requirements within the Diploma of Nursing and placement length may not be adequate in preparing enrolled nurses for direct entry to mental health nursing. Providing a structured transition program for a group of enrolled nurses is a useful strategy to improve knowledge, skills, and retention.