Mental health nurses make up nearly half of the global mental health workforce, yet they remain overlooked as central leaders in mental health reform. An RMIT expert argues the need to recognise and uplift mental health nurses and systems under growing global pressure.
Mental health nurses make up nearly half of the global mental health workforce, yet they remain overlooked as central leaders in mental health reform. An RMIT expert argues the need to recognise and uplift mental health nurses and systems under growing global pressure.
Professor Rhonda Wilson, Mental Health Nursing
"Mental health nurses are the largest proportion of the mental health workforce, yet remain under-recognised in policy, funding and reform.
"Escalating mental health needs, workforce burnout, climate-related trauma and geopolitical instability have exposed fragile systems worldwide.
"If we are serious about improving mental health outcomes, specialist mental health nursing leadership must be embedded at every level of the system.
"To safeguard the future of mental health nurses, we need legislative recognition of specialist mental health nursing, stronger global leadership structures and the establishment of an International Council of Mental Health Nursing."
RMIT will co-host a national symposium on 20 February with Northern Health and the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses, showcasing senior leaders and the next generation of mental health nursing reformers, coinciding with International Mental Health Nurses' Day (21 February).
Professor Rhonda Wilson is an internationally recognised mental health nursing scientist with a research focus on digital health interventions. She is Professor of Mental Health Nursing at RMIT University where she leads the mental health nursing discipline and an innovative digital mental health nursing research virtual laboratory. She is President of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses.
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