Media release from Waikato DHB

The national Mental Health Nurse Educators' Forum started today with a challenging and controversial presentation by Professor Eimear Muir-Cochrane.

The conference is this year being held at Hamilton's Le Grande Hotel today (Thursday 23 September) and tomorrow.

Professor Muir-Cochrane has flown in from Adelaide for the conference and was the forum's first keynote speaker and will be a member in tomorrow's panel discussion.

A key theme of this morning's presentation was the changing face of mental health nursing and the need for staff to be prepared for yet more in the coming years.

She believes mental health nurse education needs to deliver work-ready graduates and spoke to the group of about 50 delegates this morning, on what mental health consumers want, what mental health nurse educators should teach and how they should do it.

"Our approach is to place a strong emphasis on developing students' critical thinking skills", she said.

"We also engage them in evidence-based learning activities and carefully designed clinical experiences."

Professor Eimear Muir-Cochrane is the School of Nursing and Midwifery mental health nursing chair.

She is also a visiting professor at City University, London, Australasian editor for the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing (UK) and in 2007 won a Carrick Citation for 'Sustained innovation in mental health nursing education in the last decade'.

Other presentation and discussion topics scheduled over the two-day conference include the launch of the Smokefree Nurses Aotearoa group, and Anne McDonald from Te Pou presenting on creating a positive, recovery focussed nursing workforce.

Te Pou is New Zealand's national centre of mental health research, information and workforce development, with offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.

NB: For more information and a photograph of the conference panellists and facilitators, visit www.waikatodhb.govt.nz