What we do
This examination of values is supported by the CNO’s (2006) review of mental health nursing where it was argued that the values held by nurses who work in mental health services directly influence their practice and in order to practise in an effective manner it is essential that these nurses develop strong values-based skills and supporting knowledge during pre-registration education.
Following this review the module team developed Values Based Practice in Mental Health Nursing, a pre-registration mental health nursing module. The first module was held in September 2005. We have now successfully run the module eleven times. There are some difficulties teaching attitudes and abstract concepts such as compassion; hence the teaching team diversified their teaching and learning methods and introduced art and film, photography and literature to the module. We have kept traditional methods such as lectures and revived less used methods such as formalised debates. The results have been excellent with an 81% pass rate (at first attempt), additionally the student evaluations have also been outstanding. In a small-scale research project we have established that not only do students retain knowledge from the module but they also use it in their clinical practice and in their reflections of this practice over an extended period of time.
In 2011 the module was reviewed as part of an academic revalidation event. The team built on their successes and devised a new module – Values in Everyday Mental Health Nursing. The module introduces students to significant concepts and meanings of mental health nursing. It considers personal and professional values and Values-Based Frameworks that underpin mental health practice by the examination of culture, social inclusivity, diversity and difference. The current module explores and examines:
1. Understanding values and values-based frameworks
- Values-based practice
- Impact of personal and professional values, beliefs and emotions on practice
2. Developing human qualities
- Working with people in a way that values, respects and explores the meaning of individual lived experiences to provide person-centred practice.
- Developing compassion, dignity, humility, respect for autonomy, beneficence and other virtues and understanding how these virtues impact on practice
3. Diversity and difference
- Culture, labelling and stigma, diversity and difference
- Supporting social inclusion and challenging inequality, discrimination and exclusion that contribute to mental health problems.
4. Partnership
- Partnership with service users, carers, groups, communities, organisations and other professionals.
- Power imbalances between professionals and people experiencing mental health problems, by helping people exercise their rights, upholding safeguards and ensuring minimal restrictions on their lives.
5. Law
- History of: mental health legislation, nursing, introduction to current mental health legislation
Sources
Department of Health. 2006. From values to action: The Chief Nursing Officer’s review of mental health nursing. London: Department of Health.
Fulford, KWM. 2008. Values-Based Practice: A New Partner to Evidence-Based Practice and A First for Psychiatry? Mens Sana Monographs. 6(1):10-21
Fulford, KWM. 2011. The value of evidence and evidence of values: bringing together values-based and evidence-based practice in policy and service development in mental health. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 7(5): 976-987
Seedhouse, D. 2005. Values-Based Decision Making for the Caring Professions. London: Wiley.
Woodbridge, K and Bill (K.W.M.) Fulford. 2004. Whose Values? A workbook for values-based practice in mental health care. London: The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
Some of the things that students have said about the module:
- Really benefited a lot especially fieldwork
- Great module. Fieldtrip made perfect sense. Confidence building
- Service user/carer perspective – insightful and very useful
- Would like more please – and in first year too!
- I have found the VBP module to be interesting and useful. Evaluating your own personal values that you wouldn’t normally have the opportunity or self-awareness to do
- Very thought provoking; it prompted much self-questioning and prompted me to investigate my own values and reasoning.
- Hard work, but loved it.
- I felt my voice and confidence grow … and I have a much better understanding of values. Having time to make sense of my own values
- I thought that it was an excellent module made very enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the field work which helped me to gain some depth and insight into my own values
- The module made me think and change some of my views – interesting all the way with good opportunity of our own involvement
- Helped me to question my values and reinforce the reasons for me becoming a mental health nurse
