Nursing curriculum being tailored to enhance detection of mental illness

Jan 25, 2013 News

The nursing curriculum is set to be redefined, whereby nursing trainees are more exposed to training in mental health intervention.
At least this is according to Parliamentary Secretary Joseph Hamilton who revealed during an interview with this publication that if nurses are trained at the primary health care level then they would be able to easily detect cases of mental illness.
He explained that part of the regime of treatment, among other things, is the need to intervene so that persons who are potential mental cases could be treated in a timely manner.
Such a move, according to Hamilton could effectively prevent persons from becoming mentally ill to an extent that they are uncontrollable.
“If they are trained to detect these cases, persons don’t have to reach on the streets…and so we have instructed that the curriculum has to be retooled to bring into play training of nurses in a general way as regards dealing with health,” said Hamilton.
He further observed that because mental illness is stigmatised, people often shy away from wanting to be associated with a person with such a disorder. Moreover, he noted that the onus is on the Ministry of Health more than ever to address this dilemma.
According to Hamilton, “I believe what we can do and what we are attempting to do in our New Strategic Plan, is to have interventions at the primary health care level, because as I understand it from the technical people, as it relates specifically to females, a lot of them…if the nurses are trained to intervene, primarily among those who suffer from post partum depression, we can prevent some of these cases from escalating.”
This move comes even as the Ministry of Health is seeking to have the legislation governing mental health refined. The existing legislation, Hamilton told this publication, is simply obsolete and therefore does not offer much clout to the Health Ministry to deal with the very prevailing challenge of mental health.
He explained recently that the existing Mental Health Legislation currently requires that a relative of a suspected mentally challenged individual appear before a magistrate or judge in a court of law and swear to their mental condition before that individual could be committed to psychiatric care.
“This is a legal procedure and so the Ministries of Health and Human Services together can’t go on the road and pick up these people…the police can however intervene if the person is violent.”
According to Hamilton not even the Chief Medical Officer, who is considered the uppermost medical professional of the country, hasn’t the authority to assemble and commit persons of unsound mind without legal action being taken. Moreover, he emphasised that legislation is a primary problem that must be dealt with urgently.
He disclosed that discussions in this regard have been engaged within the Health Ministry, which has since made moves, in collaboration with the Human Services Ministry, to create a Task Force to monitor the challenge, even as efforts are made to refine the existing legislation.
A draft legislation has since been crafted and it is currently at the stage of consultation, Hamilton disclosed.
“We are reviewing at the level of the Health Ministry the Mental Health legislation and we hope that in the consultations we will find a way, as a nation, how we could deal with that specific matter.”
In the interim, though, he said that the Ministry will be addressing closely the training of nurses to effectively handle mental illness at a very early stage.

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Nursing curriculum being tailored to enhance detection of mental illness

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