Mental Health care in the UK has undergone many changes since the closing of the Asylums and the start of Community Care.
The Bio psychosocial model working.
With the workload now shared amongst a range of individuals with specialized roles the positive benefits were to both Service User and HCP alike. Gether with these policy changes is how people with a mental illness received treatment came other theories and ideas that attempted to improve the way Health Care Professionals worked. In the community teams Nurses represent among the largest groups of HCPs represented. Nonetheless, mental Health Nursing whether in a Hospital or Community setting has at its heart the developing of a relationship with the Service User that allows them to successfully navigate through the mental health system. During a hospital stay the length of time spent with the Service User is unique to the role, while these qualities are not exclusively traits of just Nurses.
So it is possible because of the emphasis placed within Mental Health Nursing on communication and the ability to establish a therapeutic rapport with others.
The Nurse can often find themselves acting as a bridge between the needs of the Service User and the wants of the MDT.
So it is in contrast to other HCPs who traditionally have had skilled but intervention based roles within a Service User’s care. Generally, both parties are seeking what’s the ‘best’ thing for the person who has approached them seeking help, however as with many commonly held goals the way of getting the ‘best’ thing and even agreeing on what really is the ‘best’ thing is often fraught with misunderstanding or even outright conflict. Critics of the MDT have argued that it often reduces the role of other HCPs to their barest functions, Psychiatrists become Prescribers, Social Workers become State Benefit or Accommodation Advisors and stuff Change maybe inevitable but working gether will remain as important as ever. More change looks inevitable and from a financial perspective having a smaller MDT or even having a single cross trained Mental Health Professional looks a more attractive option.
These developments over the years was seen as having a largely positive impact on the way that Mental Health Services have conducted themselves with the end result being a better outcome for the Service User.