Premium
Influencing mental health nursing practice through the teaching of research and theory: a personal critical review
Author(s) -
Gordon
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2850.1998.00106.x
Subject(s) - mental health , curriculum , mental health nursing , context (archaeology) , nursing theory , nursing , nurse education , psychology , engineering ethics , medical education , pedagogy , medicine , medline , political science , psychotherapist , paleontology , law , biology , engineering
This paper will critically review the factors that influence the teaching of theory and research to mental health nurses. Following a brief historical review it is asserted that current educational approaches fail to address the complexity and context‐dependent nature of mental health nursing practice. The author then argues for a radical approach to education which will enable students and practitioners to engage critically in deconstructing and developing theories that illuminate and help us understand the multiple realities of our post‐modern professional world. In conclusion, the author provides an example of a casework‐based curriculum that emphasizes the ways in which clinical experience with clients in a range of contexts should be the main focus of knowledge and skill development for the emerging profession of mental health nursing.