Need/Issue: The complexity of concurrent disorders supports the need for entry-level undergraduate nursing education in Canada to prepare all new RNs to identify, care for, and manage mental health and addiction disorders. Results of an environmental scan in 2015 revealed that 22 percent of Canada’s 46 undergraduate nursing programs lacked a designated mental health theory course in their curriculum, and 28 percent of the nursing programs did not offer a clinical placement in mental health. How will new graduate nurses be able to advocate for persons with mental health conditions and addictions if they have not had theoretical and clinical nursing exposure in their undergraduate nursing program? Education (both theoretical knowledge and psychomotor/psychosocial clinical skills) in mental health and addiction for all undergraduate nursing students is essential. Although it is common for undergraduate nursing students to feel apprehensive about transitioning into the graduate nursing role in any area of nursing, entry-to-practice core competencies in mental health and addictions are needed in undergraduate nursing programs. When approximately 50 percent of people with a mental health disorder also have an addiction problem, and at least 20 percent of people with an addiction problem also have a mental health disorder, education is needed. The undergraduate education of all registered nurses (RNs) must provide student nurses with the ability to also recognize co-existing physical and mental health conditions and the interconnections between them. Future graduates entering nursing, the largest component of the health care workforce, need education in mental health and addiction to provide many workplace settings with health promotion education, access to preventive health services, and links to primary, secondary, and tertiary health care.
Responsibility of Nursing Education and Professional Associations: In 2015, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) partnered with members of the Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nurses (CFMHN) to develop the Entry-to-Practice Mental Health and Addiction Competencies for Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum. Members of the CFMHN Education Committee focused their CFMHN (2016) 3rd position statement and paper on this crucial need in nursing education: Mental health and Addiction Curriculum in Undergraduate Nursing Education in Canada. The scope and complexity of mental health conditions and addiction issues provides a clear justification for including mental health and addiction competencies within all nursing undergraduate programs in Canada and globally. In this presentation, the author(s) will argue that it is reprehensible for schools of nursing to graduate nursing students who have limited knowledge of caring for at least 20 percent of the population in Canada, and similar rates globally, who live with mental health and addiction conditions.
See more of: Evidence-Based Practice Sessions: Oral Paper & Posters