NZNO Mental Health Nurses Section Newsletter – June 2022

The best way to predict the future…

Crystal balls are not part of the evidenced-based toolkit of a Mental Health Nurse. If they were, we might know for certain what the future holds for us in this time of system change. As things stand, however, past events are a fair predictor of what we can expect. 

Last month’s much-anticipated “Wellbeing Budget” sadly failed to live up to its name. As NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter explained, “We’re looking forward to getting some of the detail from Government that we hope will show concrete support for the health workers, but it’s pretty clear at this point that the urgent need at the frontline has gone unacknowledged.”

The lack of change in the make-up of the Interim Leadership Teams for Health New Zealand is also telling. It speaks more to continuity than to the “transformation of the health system” promised by Health Minister Andrew Little.

Meanwhile the MHNS Committee has noted with concern recent comments by Health New Zealand Interim Chief Executive Margie Apa (from 44:37 in this video) and what they might mean for nursing in the new health system: “We can have another look at the way our teams work and how jobs are done”, she said. “There are tasks that can shift from medical practitioners to nursing, nursing to allied health.” After citing the growth of non-clinical vaccinators as part of the Covid response, Margie Apa continued, “In some areas we’ve got lots of nurses delivering a service that in other areas are delivered by technicians. That can be an awkward conversation for our workforces, but we’ve kind of got to go there.” 

Our future is also shaped, however, by longer term trends. The MHNS Committee is pleased to publish in this newsletter reflections on the history of Mental Health Nursing from recently-retired Kaitiaki co-editor Teresa O’Connor. Her reflections below, originally composed for the (Covid-disrupted) 2021 MHNS Forum in Dunedin and titled “Can mental health nursing survive the zombie apocalypse?”, take the place of this month’s feature article. 

Ultimately though, as American academic Peter Drucker quipped, the best way to predict the future is to create it. This issue of the MHNS Newsletter also reports on the “Future 2030” project, a collaboration between MHNS, Te Ao Māramatanga and the Directors of Mental Health Nurses national group to set the direction for mental health, addiction, and disability nursing. We hope you find something of interest in the following pages. 

Introducing new Committee member Katie Neal

The MHNS Committee is delighted to welcome our newest member. Katie Neal, who joined us this month, qualified as a Mental Health Nurse in the UK in 2006. She has worked in acute and psychiatric inpatient intensive care, acute forensic inpatient, mixed rehab forensic inpatient and adult community mental health teams. She currently works as a Prison Liaison Nurse at Southern DHB. 

Katie says, “Whilst I do not have any committee experience, I am a passionate Mental Health Nurse and am enthusiastic about the ongoing development of Mental Health Nursing in Aotearoa.”

Katie has been co-opted onto the Committee for the period up until the next MHNS Biennial General Meeting. The Committee, which comprises in addition Helen Garrick (Chairperson), Jennie Rae (Treasurer), Brent Doncliff (Secretary) and Grant Brookes (newsletter editor), is still looking for three more members. We invite any new, emerging leaders to join us. To express your interest, please click here for a nomination form. 

Committee news 

The MHNS Committee has met twice since our last newsletter in March. At our 17 March meeting, we reluctantly farewelled Margaret Daniela. In the context of increasing staff shortages, Margaret informed us that the demands of her role had grown to the point that she could no longer continue on the Committee. 

Margaret was elected to the Committee in 2017. Among her many valuable contributions, she represented MHNS to the Chair of the 2018 Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction, Ron Paterson, and filled the role of Committee Secretary. We thank Margaret for her service. 

Committee members reported back about work on external bodies on behalf of MHNS. Brent Doncliff represented colleges and sections on the NZNO Membership Committee up until recently, and currently sits on the Mental Health and Addictions Employee Retention work group, created last year under the terms of settlement for the PSA Mental and Public Health Nursing MECAs. 

Jennie Rae belongs to the NZNO DHB MECA Implementation sub-committee and the Constitutional Review Advisory Group (CRAG). CRAG signed off the member survey on the Constitution, which was sent to all NZNO members in April. MHNS is also represented on the NZNO project Address Violence and Aggression Against Nurses (AVAN), which is re-starting after an hiatus during the Covid pandemic. 

Helen Garrick has been an advisor on the “Are You Ready?” advertising campaign, recently launched by the Ministry of Health to promote Mental Health and Addictions Nursing as a career. Helen also represents MHNS on “Future 2030” (see below for more about this project). 

Lastly we revisited the idea of an online option to make it easier for NZNO members to join MHNS. This has now been actioned. We hope that current MHNS members will now encourage their colleagues to join. 

A second, shorter meeting on 16 May focused mainly on planning for the next MHNS Biennial General Meeting, on a date to be confirmed, and on succession planning for the Committee – including the welcome news of Katie Neal’s co-option. 

‘Future 2030’: A Framework for MH Nursing

It’s been 16 years since the publication of landmark report, the 2006 National Framework for Mental Health Nursing. Much has changed since that time. In recognition of this, a collaborative comprising NZNO MHNS, Te Ao Māramatanga and the Directors of Mental Health Nurses national group last year commissioned a project, Taking Mental Health, Addiction and Disability Nursing Forward to 2030. The aim of this “Future 2030” project was to prepare Mental Health, Addiction and Disability (MHAD) Nurses to make significant contributions to service delivery, their profession and in the lives of the people we serve and their whānau, over the next ten years. 

The project contractors are now reaching the stage in the project scope where they are required to consult with MHAD nurses, followed by a presentation of draft recommendations. 

As the project scope document states, “Within the scope of MHAD nursing, we demonstrate specialist skills across the variety of settings from acute, inpatient, community, and primary care to highly specialist settings such as maternal mental health and working with people with complex, traumatic life experiences. Combined with our professions ‘24/7’ approach to the nursing care of whaiora, we can lead in the specialist therapeutic skills that will be essential for the preparation of the future workforce and the challenges within the health environment.”

Twelve separate discussion papers are due to be released this month, on topics such as supervision, leadership and wellbeing. Consultation periods for these documents will be condensed, requiring a quick turnaround for any feedback. The MHNS Committee will distribute these discussion papers to MHNS members as soon as they are available. 

IJMHN, Vol. 31 No. 3, June 2022

The MHNS Newsletter showcases the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. Full access to the journal is a benefit of MHNS membership. To obtain an article, please email library@nzno.org.nz with the citation of the full text article you would like. 

Issue Information

Editorial

Review Articles

Original Articles

Perspectives

Letter to the Editor

Feature article: Can mental health nursing survive the zombie apocalypse?

Click on the image to read the talk at the (Covid-disrupted) 2021 MHNS Forum, by Teresa O’Connor.

• This newsletter is re-posted from https://www.nzno.org.nz/groups/colleges_sections/sections/mental_health_nurses/newsletter