Mental Health Nurse Academics UK

The Mental Health Nurse Academics UK represents 65 UK Higher Education Institutes, having an influence and promoting research, education and values-based practice.

Mental Health Nursing has a long and proud tradition having made significant contributions to improving the care of mental health service users and their carers over the last two centuries.

Mental Health Nurses still make up the largest professionally qualified group of the mental health workforce in the UK today, working in increasingly diverse practice contexts and innovative, specialist roles. Therefore the education of future generations on mental health nurses is crucial.

The group was established in 2003 and consists of three standing groups, Education, Research, Policy and Practice. Professor Ben Hannigan, School of Healthcare Sciences, is the elected Vice Chair of the group (2017-18).

Reach

Universities across all four countries of the UK are represented within the group, with members working in 65 Higher Education Institutes. The reach of the group includes networks with:

• The Mental Health and Learning Disability Nurse Directors’ and Leads’ National Forum
• The Royal College of Nursing
• Unite
• The National Health Service
• Government bodies (e.g. Health Education England).

The group’s partnership with the Royal College of Nursing leads to the organisation of an annual International Mental Health Nursing Research Conference. With the Twitter handle: @MHNRConf (#MHNR2018).

Impact

The group regularly respond to national-level consultations and produce position papers influencing workforce and educational developments.

The impact of the groups work includes consultation on:

• regulation of nursing associates with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC);
• standards for pre-registration nursing practice with the NMC;
• nursing workforce requirements with The House of Commons Health Select Committee
• future workforce requirements with Health Education England;
• review of Mental Health Act;
• nominations and  ‘initial decisions’ responses to the Research Exercise Framework (REF) for the higher education funding councils’ REF team.