Mental health nursing education in preregistration nursing curricula: a national report.

The Australian Mental Health Nurse Education Taskforce conducted a national examination of mental health content of preregistration nursing curricula in order to develop a framework for including mental health in future curricula. This paper presents the qualitative findings from national consultations about the framework. Content analysis of data was undertaken, and the findings show four key themes.

Preparing nurses with enhanced mental health knowledge and skill: a major in mental health.

In Australia, since the early 1990s there has been a significant change to the way in which mental illness has been managed. Major government reforms resulted in the 'mainstreaming' of mental health care, with a significant reduction in the numbers of psychiatric hospitals. This significant policy change resulted in the demise of direct entry, specialist mental health nurse education that was the main provider of the mental health workforce.

Nurses under threat: a comparison of content of 28 aggression management programs.

Staff who work in the health service are now recognized as a high-risk group for assault in the workplace. Recently, professional and industrial organizations have begun to suggest appropriate curricula for training staff in aggression management. However, there is currently a plethora of aggression management training programs (AMP) available, varying both in content and in duration.

Re-thinking approaches to undergraduate health professional education: Interdisciplinary Rural Placement Program.

The Interdisciplinary Rural Placement Program involved the development, implementation and evaluation of a common rural primary health care module. Designed for undergraduate nursing, medical and pharmacy students of the University of Tasmania, students undertook clinical experiences and a collaborative primary health care project at two different Rural Health Teaching Sites across Tasmania. The aim of the project was for interdisciplinary students to work and learn together to enhance their understanding of the cooperative and collaborative nature of professional practice among rural health care workers.

Expectations and perceptions of graduates' performance at the start and at the end of their graduate year.

This descriptive study reports on the expectations and perceptions of graduate performance by graduates themselves, their preceptors, and their clinical nurse consultants (CNCs) at the commencement of employment as a beginning level registered nurse, and near the end of graduates' twelve months of professional employment. Findings indicate that graduates expected to be functioning at a higher level of performance at the beginning of their graduate year than did the preceptors and CNCs. There was little agreement between the three groups regarding the rating of their expectations of graduates' nursing performance.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the GHQ-12: can I see that again?

Objective: This paper reviews research relating to the factor analysis of the GHQ-12. We explore the question of whether there is a consistent replicable structure to the GHQ-12 using: (i) a comparative analysis of fit between identified factor models; and (ii) a confirmatory factor analysis of GHQ-12 data from our own study.

Method: The factor models proposed from the literature were reviewed.