In the context of a growing population of people experiencing mental illness worldwide, mental health nurses are a crucial workforce. Their recruitment and retention, however, is in decline. Drawing on qualitative data obtained from interviews with mental health nurses (MHN) in Victoria, Australia, the paper employs a range of concepts from role theory to explore professional identity within mental health nursing. The data highlight three key issues in relation to the future recruitment and retention of MHN: (i) the ambiguity of the MHN role; (ii) the weak definition and lack of understanding of the scope of the MHN role by nursing students; and (iii) a lack of communication about MHN as a profession to a wider audience. These findings indicate three avenues through which recruitment and retention in mental health nursing could be improved: (i) public communication; (ii) training and educating of the next generation of MHN; and (iii) more accurately defining the role of the MHN. © 2012 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.
CITATION STYLE
Hercelinskyj, G., Cruickshank, M., Brown, P., & Phillips, B. (2014). Perceptions from the front line: Professional identity in mental health nursing. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 23(1), 24–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12001
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