ABOUT MHNAUK
BACKGROUND AND AIMS OF THE GROUP
In an ever changing mental healthcare landscape, Mental Health Nurses (MHNs) still make up the largest professionally qualified group of the workforce in the UK and are found in diverse practice contexts and innovative, specialist roles.
Whatever changes occur in the profession and throughout healthcare the driving force must always be a fundamental desire to enhance the experiences of service users and their carers through working collaboratively with them. Users and carers must be equal partners in all aspects of care and service deliveryas well as in MHN education and research.
MHN education and research are central to ensuring that MHNs are equipped with appropriate values, knowledge and skills so that they can draw on the best available evidence to deliver high quality, co-produced, user- and carer-centred care. Increasingly, mental health practice, education and research agenda is multi-disciplinary and multi-agency and it is vital that MHNs fully engage with this agenda, not out of professional self-interest, but in order to advance education, policy and practice that best meets the needs of service users and carers.
In order to promote such engagement and develop a strong voice from MHNs working in Higher Education, MHNAUK was established as a professional interest group in 2003.
THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE GROUP ARE:
To represent and promote mental health nursing policy and practice, education, and research including by actively participating in key national and international committees and working groups.
To influence and respond to the UK mental health agenda through well-informed debate, discussion and the dissemination of material that reflects the group’s views on a range of issues.
To act as a source of consultation and advice to mental health nurses and others on mental health nursing policy and practice, education, and research.
To share good practice and innovations in the development and conduct of mental health nursing policy and practice, education, and research.
To encourage and facilitate research into mental health nursing.
To organise on an annual basis the International Mental Health Nursing Research Conference, with support as appropriate from partner organisations.
TERMS OF REFERENCE AND WELCOME LETTER
Meetings are held three times a year at various venues across the UK hosted by member Universities s. The group has produced a number of position papers and responses to consultations and is represented on a wide range of relevant national policy, education and research steering groups
Terms of Reference for the group were introduced and discussed at the MHNAUK meeting held at Unite the Union in Glasgow on 11 October 2019, and were then discussed further via the group’s email list. They are currently under review in preparation for registering the group as a company limited by guarantee and will be published here soon.
A Welcome Letter for members and associate members, which includes information on the use of the MHNAUK email discussion list can be downloaded here.
PAST CHAIRS OF THE GROUP
2003: Professor Len Bowers and Dr Julie Repper (Kings College, London and University of Nottingham, original convenors)
2004-05: Professor Patrick Callaghan (University of Nottingham)
2006-08: Professor John Playle (University of Manchester)
2009-10: Linda Cooper (Cardiff University)
2011-12: Professor Alan Simpson (City University)
2013-14: Dr Michael Coffey (Swansea University)
2015-16: Professor Joy Duxbury (University of Central Lancashire)
2017-18: Professor Steven Pryjmachuk (University of Manchester)
2019-20: Professor Ben Hannigan (Cardiff University)
2020-23: Professor Fiona Nolan (Anglia Ruskin University)
MAILING LIST
When becoming a member of MHNAUK you will be added to the mailing list. It is the main vehicle for member-to-member communication outside our whole group and Sub-Group meetings.
Members and associates are encouraged to use the list for the following purposes:
Sharing publications, calls for papers, examples of good practise and other relevant information
Asking queries, and opening and participating in discussions
Notifying colleagues of job vacancies, external examiner positions and related opportunities
Inviting participation in projects relevant to our field
Our Facebook page is live and can be found through the link here.