Service user involvement in nurse training in NZ - article

[Jill Anderson]

Schneebeli, C. et al (2010) Service user involvement in undergraduate mental health nursing in New Zealand, International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 19, 30–35

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a service user role in the mental health component of an undergraduate
nursing programme in New Zealand. The paper provides a background to mental health
nursing education in New Zealand and discusses the implications of recent reforms in the mental
health sector. The undergraduate nursing programme at the University of Auckland has a strong
commitment to service user involvement. The programme aims to educate nurses to be responsive and
skilful in meeting the mental health needs of service users in all areas of the health sector and to present
mental health nursing as an attractive option for nurses upon graduation. We outline the mental health
component of the programme, with an emphasis on the development of the service user role. In the
second half of the paper, we present a summary of responses to a student satisfaction questionnaire.
The responses indicate that the service user role is an important element of the programme and is well
received by a substantial proportion of students. We consider the implications for nursing education
and for recruitment into mental health nursing. Finally, we discuss some issues related to service user
involvement in the development of new models of mental health service delivery

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