The mental health team recently started their own blog on mental health nursing and the connectedness that it bring with students and the wider mental health family. Here, blog editor Colin Hughes introduces the mental health nursing blog.

The first school blog- ‘connected learning’ – that launched late last year is I feel a very timely resource for both Staff and Students.  In many ways this blog demonstrates the need to highlight the similarities we share across all fields of Nursing and Midwifery, rather than working in an isolated fashion it is important to connect with each other to improve our practice.  

This leads to improved competency and confidence and a better joined up service provision which can only improve the lives of those we care for.  This concept of improved service delivery through a greater shared understand, via connected knowledge transfer has been highlighted by the creation of the Nursing and Midwifery’s (NMC) (2020) new pre-registration educational standards.  Enshrined within these educational standards we see a greater emphasis on the similarities shared by all fields of Nursing and an acknowledgement that we can no longer practice in ‘silos’, rather we need an enhanced understanding of each other’s practice areas. 

This additional knowledge is not about becoming an expert in all areas but is about having additional knowledge and skills which allow us to improve the physical and psychological wellbeing of those under our care.  These additional but less specified skills also permit for more efficient pathways of care a ‘connected network’ which allows for better understanding of and sharing of information.  All of this greater understanding and sharing of information through a new open connected and collegiate relationship does not diminish the role of the field specific practitioner, but simply allows for a better practitioner.  This new connected agenda can only be promoted and moved forward through greater understanding of each other and each other’s profession, facilitated by the NMC’s (2020) new standards.  Of course, this can only work if we in education in collaboration with our service side partners and all stakeholders, embrace rather than resist this new philosophy.

The Connected Learning Blog is a platform which can act as a natural fulcrum for us all to present knowledge, ask questions provide answers to help all of us in this journey of open understanding.  The Mental Health Nursing Blog perhaps the first of several field specific blogs is one which will support the philosophy of the Connect Learning Blog and one of shared understanding and learning.  This can only be successful if we all engage with these platforms, while it is true  common early adopters of these platforms will be staff and within the staff body those comfortable in the use of such platforms,  it is important that students, patients, carers, service colleagues and all those interested in improving patient care ‘connect together’ to push this agenda forward.  Improving our understanding of each other, broadening our own knowledge base, understanding, and embracing each other’s perspective and fields can only improve the care we can deliver to our patients and their carers. 

The Mental Health Nursing blog can be found here