Fundamentals of Mental Health Nursing
Today I received my copy of the new book "Fundamentals of Mental Health Nursing", edited by Victoria Clarke and Andrew Walsh, and published by Oxford University Press.
About the book
The cover of the book reveals that it "Covers all the core topics in [the] pre-registration nursing curricular" and that it is an "Innovative patient-centred and case-based approach to Mental Health Nursing".
Written primarily by mental health nurses, it is intended as an introductory text for students studying to become mental health nurses. Rather than being a text book full of information for the student to memorise, it uses real life and fictional scenario's to explain how nursing skills can be applied, and to enable the student to develop their own skills.
The book includes sample care plans, references, recommended further reading, and useful web addresses, as well as experiences from real "service users" and carers. It also comes with a free online resource centre, providing video clips to demonstrate the application of theory, quizzes, an interactive glossary, and sample CV's.
Apart from the fact that it contains a full page experience written by me (woohoo!), the book smells nice, which I think is a perfectly logical reason to buy the book. Oh, and the fact that if you're studying mental health it will probably help with that as well. I also think it may be a useful tool for anyone who is caring for a "service user" for many reasons, not least of all because it explains various jargon and contains many links to the websites of organisations that offer support for both sufferers and carers. Although not an avid reader, I will try to work my way through this book, inhaling each page as I go. The discussion points are likely to raise interesting topics for blog posts.
About the editors
Victoria has worked as a mental health nurse for 26 years, and within nurse education for the past 17 years. Her current post is Head of Division/Director of Quality (Mental Health) at Birmingham City University.
Andrew is a senior lecturer at Birmingham City University where he teaches pre-registration mental health nurses. He previously spent over 20 years working in a variety of mental health care settings. I don't know why, but I always imagined him to be younger than that. Anyway, he seems to be a very nice man and he also contributes to a fairly new mental health nursing blog as well as writing his own hobby blog about Tudor history, although I'm sure he's not that old! I'm not sure if the mental health blog will be as punchy as Mental Nurse in it's approach, but if you pop along you may find a bourbon biscuit or two.
6 comments:
Hi Mr Mans wife
Thought I would get back to you re a couple of things.
Re the book - we really wanted to write something in plain English about mental health care. To what extent did we manage? I guess we will have to wait & see. We were pleased that you agreed to contribute anyway.
RE our blog - it won't compare with Mental Nurse (as you know I am a fan & direct students to this) I can't do funny like that - & I guess we have to be a little careful what we say - therefore I guess we have to be a bit quieter?
Funnily enough I am not that old, I certainly don't remember the 1580's - I actually struggle to recall the 1980's ( hmm.. probably just as well actually? )
Bye for now
Andy
PS Oddly enough, you are not the first person to mention that the book smells nice! I must remember to mention this to the publishers in case we get asked to do it again?
Hi Andy, thanks for dropping by!
I'll have to get back to you about the plain English thing - as long as it doesn't read like one of OSB's rants it should be ok! (Just kidding OSB!)
I understand that using your real names on your blog can present problems with being as free with your speech as perhaps you would have liked, and I suspect that this is what will make your blog different from Mental Nurse. I'm sure it will be just as enjoyable though.
Lol, yes, there are certain aspects of the 80's that I try hard to forget as well!
Can you ask for a strawberry scented book next time? :)
This sounds like a much needed book! I will have to check it out. Nothing like the smell of a new book. :>)
Since it seems to me like every single person in my life has some kind of trouble with their mental health (I wonder, what does that say about me--do I drive everyone nuts? LOL), I've been toying with taking some classes (to fall back on when I get laid off)....your review makes me give it even more serious thought!
I agree Merely Me, although some books smell better than others!
Lol, I know the feeling Carol!
Y'know, I wish I had read something like this when Mr Man was first ill because then I would have known exactly what to expect from the mental health services.
Thanks for your comments Merely Me and Carol.
It's good to see that people are talking about mental health - in my opinion it's a subject that can often be shelved and people are too embarrassed to talk about. Working in the mental health industry, I know the importance of it and really want to raise awareness and get more people into the industry. If you do want to join us, have a look at this website for mental health nursing positions:
http://www.nursingmentalhealthjobs.com/
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