Legal Roles of a Mental Health Nurse

All nurses working in the UK must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). When students complete their nursing degree, their universities share their contact information with the NMC, which will then contact them to advise them on how to create an online account and apply. A fee will be charged for this. Nurses must renew their registration and pay the registration fee each year and must revalidate their registration every three years. To revalidate registration, nurses must have completed at least 35 hours of professional development (CPD) and 450 hours of licensed practice over three years. National estimates suggest that the demand for mental health workers will exceed supply by 250,000 by 2025, with 96% of all counties in the United States facing a shortage of mental health prescribing physicians (APNA, 2019). NMHPs are considered an essential part of the mental health workforce, but represent the lowest proportion of beneficiaries. At the same time, they are among the few supplier groups with regulatory authority (Heisler and Bagalman, 2013). No state in the United States has enough prescribers, and 43 states are experiencing severe shortages (Tyler, Hulkower, & Kaminski, 2017). In addition, several sources indicate that there is a risk that supply will not meet projected mental health labour demand over the next 20 years (HRSA, 2016; Beck, Page, Buche, Rittman, & Gaiser, 2018; Chattopadhyay, Zangaro, & White, 2015). According to the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), supply will exceed demand for psychiatrists, but not for NMHNPs, by 2030 (HRSA, 2016).

This is based on estimates that NMHRPs and psychiatrists provide inherently different services, with psychiatrists doing most of the drug prescribing. In a 2018 survey of psychiatric health personnel, NMHRPs accounted for approximately 26.3% (n=17,534), psychiatrists 70.5% (n=47,046), psychiatric assistants 1.7% (n=1,164), and psychiatric pharmacists 1.5% (n=996) of the workforce (Beck et al., 2018). HRSA notes that there are 7,670 nurses practicing psychiatry (HRSA, 2016) and that the number of nurse practitioners in 2008 and 2012 is approximately 7,500 psychiatric nurses (Chattopadhyay, Zangaro & White, 2015); This discrepancy is likely related to the inclusion of clinical nurse specialists in the study by Beck et al. (2018). Geographically, NMHPs are concentrated in the northeastern United States as well as the Pacific Northwest and Alaska (Beck et al., 2018), reflecting a preference for location based on the scope of practice and the likely availability of staff or supervisors as required. Interestingly, physician education programs tend to keep students in their state, unlike PMHNP programs, suggesting a broader overall geographic distribution of graduates and increased potential for workforce expansion in areas of shortage (Beck et al., 2018). Unfortunately, many local communities deny the problem by opposing halfway houses or sheltered houses in their neighborhood. Liability insurance often does not cover prolonged outpatient psychiatric care. In today`s mobile society, family and friends may not be able to care for the newly released patient, who may then find himself in a boarding house that has little to do but watch TV.

Psychiatric nurses, patients, families and citizens must address these issues in the United States. The value of commitment, hospitalization goals, quality of life and patients` rights must be safeguarded by judicial, legislative and health systems. Ethical decision-making is about trying to distinguish right from wrong in situations without clear guidelines. A decision model can help identify the factors and principles that influence a decision. Figure 8-1 presents a critical ethics review model that describes the steps or factors that the nurse must consider when resolving an ethical dilemma. In case of voluntary admission, the patient retains all civil rights, including the right to vote, driver`s license, purchase and sale of real estate, management of personal affairs, function, exercise of a profession and exercise of a business. It is a common misconception that all admissions to a psychiatric hospital result in the loss of civil rights. It is important that patients with serious psychiatric disorders are identified and treated appropriately. It is also worth remembering that violent behaviour by people with serious mental illness is only one part of a larger problem: the failure of public mental health services and the lack of adequate community support for the mentally ill (Chapter 34).

This has led to large numbers of mentally ill people among the homeless, large numbers of mentally ill people in prisons and prisons, and a revolving door to psychiatric readmissions. Nearly 10 years after the landmark Future of Nursing Report (IOM, 2011) and as the profession prepares to release the Robert Wood Johnson/National Academy of Medicine Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report, it is time to reflect on the future of psychiatric nursing and how nurses can work to improve mental health care for children and youth. This article aims to examine the current landscape of mental health care, how the current nursing framework and theoretical knowledge can expand and expand the role of the NMHP, and what resources are ultimately needed to bring about lasting and dramatic changes in the way we practice. It also aims to examine IOM`s recommendations as they apply to psychiatric nurses in the current care landscape. First and foremost, this article posits that in the current context of crisis in child and youth mental health care, the role of the NMHRP must change. Second, it calls for theoretical and practical changes to better serve children and youth with mental health issues. State laws vary, but they attempt to protect the person who is not mentally ill against his or her will in a psychiatric hospital for political, economic, family or other non-medical reasons. Some procedures are standard. The process begins with an affidavit from a relative, friend, public servant, physician or interested citizen stating that the person has a mental illness and needs treatment. Some states only allow certain people to file such a petition. One or two physicians must then examine the patient`s mental state; Some states require at least one of the doctors to be a psychiatrist.

A patient admitted against his will lost the right to leave the hospital at his own request. If an inpatient leaves before discharge, the staff are required by law to inform the police and the competent courts. Often these patients go home or visit family or friends and can be easily found. The judicial authorities then refer the patient to the hospital. Further action is not required as the original commitment is still in effect. 5.The nurse then deals with the application of the principles stemming from her philosophy of life and care, scientific discoveries and ethical theories. Ethical theories suggest ways to structure ethical dilemmas and evaluate possible solutions. Here are four possible approaches: Nurses often provide care within communities.

Shifting care services, nursing-family partnership initiatives, home care, school-based nursing and nursing are just a few of the areas where nurses are already practicing in non-traditional clinical settings. Since children most often receive mental health care in non-traditional clinical settings such as schools, community organizations, religious institutions, emergency services, and juvenile justice (O`Connell, Boat, & Warner, 2009), the field of psychiatric mental health care has the opportunity to benefit from its history. experience and knowledge in community caregiving. Since the mid-1990s, research has shown that schools are a de facto mental health system in which children with and without a mental health diagnosis receive services (Burns et al., 1995). Therefore, school nursing, in particular, offers opportunities to improve access to care for children and youth. In addition to improving access to care, working in the community helps nurses provide care that is shaped by the strengths and challenges of the community. For example, a common mental health recommendation is to increase exercise by «walking outside»; The caregiver`s responsibility is to recognize that not all patients live in safe neighbourhoods and adjust the recommendation accordingly. This raises questions about the socio-cultural context of mental health care (Chapter 7) and the role of mental health professionals as agents of social norms and norms.

Thus, the standard of dangerous behaviour may change the function of the psychiatric hospital from a place of therapy for mental illness to a place of detention for offensive behaviour. The legal and ethical context of care is important to all psychiatric nurses because it focuses on patients` rights and the quality of care they receive. However, laws vary from state to state, and psychiatric nurses should familiarize themselves with the laws of the state in which they practice. This knowledge improves caregiver and patient freedom, informs ethical decision-making, and ultimately leads to better care. An ethic is a norm of behavior or belief that is valued by an individual or group. It describes what should be, not what is – a goal to which an individual aspires.