Posts by Andy
Personalisation: Where are we going?
This post is by LD Senior Lecturer Mark Jukes of BCU - (technical problems are getting in the way of my being able to credit him properly)
In mental health and learning disability nursing what does Personalisation mean and what impact does this new wave of ideology and policy have on nurses?
In the context of mental health [...]
NHS radical reform!
Simpler days — a fresh faced Staff nurse sets out to change the world (back row 2nd from Left)
1979
In my life, 1979 saw two important events, firstly it was the year in which I started my nurse training at Hollymoor Hospital in Northfield, Birmingham and secondly, Maggie Thatcher became Prime Minister.
In so many ways, life seemed simpler [...]
Medication errors
I was just reading a report from the National Patient Safety Agency entitled ‘Safety in Doses’ (See link below). This report gives a review of medication errors reported to them during 2007. The majority of these involve general medical settings although 9% of them (6551) happened within mental health services. Luckily, 96% of all incidents [...]
Akmal Shaikh
Despite a clear history of mental health problems in the period leading up to his arrrest and conviction for drug smuggling, British citizen Akmal Shaikh was executed in China this morning.
Anyone with any experience of working with people who have mental health problems will easily identify elements of mental illness in descriptions of Mr Shaikhs [...]
Happy Christmas & Merry New Year!
Seasons greetings from everyone at the Mental Health Nurse Lecturers Tea Party
This blog is now one year old – thanks to everyone who has contributed, commented & most importantly read it over the past 12 months – see you in the new year.
A losing battle?
I was just reading this story from the BBC about a suggestion that the Scottish cannabis crop (worth an estimated £100 million) may now be bigger than the Scottish vegetable crop.
This comes in the same week that we had the story about the sacked Government drugs adviser. As usual then, plenty of stories about drugs.
Just ask a [...]
Half way through my first placement
This is the second guest post from Kate Hopley (first post here) who recently commenced a course here at BCU. Kate has also started a BCU mental health nurse student area on Facebook
I am now more than half way through my first placement, and I have had many new experiences since writing my last entry. I [...]
Hope for Mental Health Reforms – a US perspective
Todays guest post is from Nicole White from the USA.
The bailout that was signed by former President Bush in October 2008 opened up a new door to health reforms by requiring that group insurance companies require equal coverage for both mental and physical illnesses. This was a milestone in health insurance policies that had previously [...]
Schizophrenic man terrifies kids at party
This is a guest post from the people responsible for promoting an anti mental health discrimination campaign called ‘Time to change’.
We don’t normally do adverts but I thought that this would be ok — it would be very interesting to hear if you have any comments or observations?
Time to Change is run by leading mental health charities [...]
Life as a new Mental Health nursing student
This blog has taken a bit of a break over the last few weeks & I am pleased to say that we are back in business & looking forward to continuing where we left off.
I am delighted to start us off with a guest post from Kate Hopley who has recently begun her mental nurse [...]