Roles of Nurses in Improving Mental Health of Individuals and Communities

This blog discusses the pivotal role of nurses in addressing mental ill-health in Australia. It highlights how nurses can provide education, treatment, and advocacy to improve mental health. The blog emphasizes the importance of nurses in the mental healthcare delivery system and how they can help in reducing or eradicating the cases of mental illness in the Australian families and communities.

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History of Mental Health Nursing
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Blog Nursing on the Roles of Nurses in the improvement of the Mental Health of Individuals and
Communities
Mental ill-health is one of the major issues of concern in the public health sector. Over
the years, the Australian Department of Health has been facing a problem dealing with the
mental disorders that affect the Australians. Some of the most serious mental illnesses in the
country include, but not limited to anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, sleep
disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, psychosis, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,
personality disorders, suicidal feelings, self-harm, alcohol abuse, depression, panic disorder, and
schizophrenia. These are the mental diseases that have been causing massive problems to
individual Australians, families, and communities. However, despite the magnitude of the
impacts of these disorders, the truth is that they can still be addressed if appropriate interventions
are adopted. The nurses, as professional healthcare providers have a pivotal role in addressing
the problem of mental ill-health in the country.
Nobody can deny the fact the nurses are actually in a unique position to make a
difference when it comes to the mitigation of mental illness in the country. If the nurses the
nurses discharge their duties to the perfection, they can help in reducing or eradicating the cases
of mental illness in the Australian families and communities (Carmel & Erickson-Schroth, 2016).
As experts, the nurses can make their contributions felt in many ways. First and foremost, the
nurses have educational skills that they can use to provide adequate and reliable mental health
education to the individuals patients, families, and communities at large (Sheridan, 2017). Upon
a successful completion of their course, the nurses emerge as primary healthcare providers as
well as educators. Meaning, they have a capability and responsibility of offering teaching
services on mental health. For example, the nurses can teach people about various mental

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illnesses, their causes, and management strategies that can be effective if applied (Melnyk,
Gallagher‐Ford, Long & Fineout‐Overholt, 2014). Issues like stigmatization of the mentally-ill
must be addressed because they have been derailing the fight against mental illness.
The other way through which the nurses can participate in the intensification of the war
against mental illnesses is that they can help in providing treatment to the people with mental
diseases. As a matter of fact, a large number of mental illnesses are treatable. However, the
diseases have not been eradicated because their treatment has not been properly done (Blais,
2015). Hence, if the nurses are engaged in this, they can play a significant role in empowering
the patients, giving prescriptions, therapies, and other forms of treatment that can be relied upon
to eradicate mental illness in the community and the nation at large (Videbeck & Videbeck,
2013). If the nurses use their competencies to handle the mentally-ill patients well, they can be
an invaluable asset in the war against mental diseases (Fortinash & Worret, 2014). As
professionals, it is the nurses who are relied upon to assess patients, diagnose, and monitor them
as they manage their conditions. If the nurses is charge these roles well, they can be of great help
in the improvement of mental health in the country.
The nurses also hold a pivotal position in mental health of the nation because they can
help in advocacy and can be involved in the mental health-related decision-making and policy
formulation and implementation processes. As experts, the nurses an use their skills to engage in
advocacy by agitating for the policy changes aimed at improving the welfare of the mentally-ill
people in the society as well as the enhancement of the quality of mental health services provided
to the members of the public (Santangelo, Procter & Fassett, 2018). The nurses can achieve this
goal by using their professional association bodies to come together and speak with one voice as
they seek to address certain issues such as mental healthcare, stigmatization, multicultural care,

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and the adoption of special mental health policy plans in the country Caplan, 2013). The nurses
can serve the role of advocacy because they are professionals who are known to be experts and
can have a voice on matters to do with mental health in the country.
In conclusion, the nurses are invaluable assets in the country’s healthcare system. If it
were not for them, the quality of healthcare services would be quite discouraging. The role of
nurses in the mental healthcare delivery cannot be underrated because, if it were not for that, the
cases of stigmatization, mental health mismanagement, high prevalence of mental illnesses, and
mental health-related mortalities would be on the rise. All these are being addressed because the
nurses have been ready to educate the patients, treat them, and advocate for their rights as much
as they can. That is why the country has been making major steps in the eradication of mental
illnesses. Nevertheless, in order to achieve all these, the nurses must be motivated and provided
with a supportive working environment that can enable them to prioritize the needs of the
patients and do everything within their capacity to improve their mental health status.

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References
Blais, K., (2015). Professional nursing practice: Concepts and perspectives. New York: Pearson.
Carmel, T. C., & Erickson-Schroth, L. (2016). Mental health and the transgender population.
Psychiatric Annals, 46(6), 346-349.
Caplan, G. (Ed.). (2013). An approach to community mental health (Vol. 3). Routledge.
Fortinash, K. M., & Worret, P. A. H. (2014). Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing-E-Book. New
York: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Melnyk, B.M., Gallagher‐Ford, L., Long, L.E. & Fineout‐Overholt, E., (2014). The
establishment of evidence‐based practice competencies for practicing registered nurses
and advanced practice nurses in real‐world clinical settings: proficiencies to improve
healthcare quality, reliability, patient outcomes, and costs. Worldviews on
Evidence
‐Based Nursing, 11(1), pp.5-15.
Santangelo, P., Procter, N., & Fassett, D. (2018). Mental health nursing:
Daring to be different, special and leading recovery-focused care? International Journal
of Mental Health Nursing, 27 (1), 251-266.
Sheridan, A. J. (2017). Historical overview of psychiatric/mental health
care. In: E. L. Yearwood & V. P. HinesMartin (eds.), Routledge handbook of global
mental health nursing Milton Park, Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 19-33.
Videbeck, S., & Videbeck, S. (2013). Psychiatric-mental health nursing. New York: Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins.