Mental Health Pathways in Practice (MHPiP):
It is an innovative, responsive and informed training pathway because:
MHPiP is primarily for nurses and allied health clinicians working in mental health settings.
MHPiP resources are also available to all NSW Health staff as a way of supporting and increasing mental health literacy across the entire health workforce.
Nurses and allied health staff will:
It provides a new opportunity for mental health staff need to continue to develop their skills and maintain evidence-based practice in line with contemporary care models.
The resources developed will be available to the broader workforce to increase the mental health literacy across all NSW Health staff.
This program aims to support the professional development and capability enhancement of staff both at entry level and those who have worked in mental health for many years.
In response to the December 2017 Review of seclusion, restraint and observation of consumers with a mental illness in NSW Health facilities it was recommended that 'NSW Health should develop and implement minimum standards and skill requirements for all staff working in mental health.' (Refer to Recommendation 8).
In 2019, a comparative analysis of existing Transition to Professional Practice Programs identified the need for a standardised evidence-based approach to mental health staff capability development.
Vicarious trauma and the management of subjective emotional reactions in response to stress is critical to personal, as well as professional wellbeing.
By encouraging nurses and allied health staff to look after their own wellbeing, they will be better placed to care for others.
Self-care is critical to caring for others, especially in the care of complex illness.
Self-care, self-awareness and self-management are critical to the abilities of clinicians to deliver optimal care to people with lived experience, their carer's and families.
MHPiP is not mandatory.
MHPiP is about supporting and encouraging a system-wide cultural shift to improve the care provided across mental health services. It does that by providing:
Genuine, long-lasting cultural and behavioural change needs to be advocated and nurtured – not mandated.
To help encourage people to engage with MHPiP, each local district has a MHPiP coordinator. The coordinators are working with mental health leaders who will actively support and encourage nurses and allied health staff to engage with this education pathway. The local leadership will consist of:
Nursing professionals may earn CPD points, and should refer to AHPRA for details.
Allied Health professionals may earn CPD points, the number of points awarded will vary according to the profession and the activity itself e.g. points can be accrued either by 'time 'or 'type of activity'. However, the focus on duration i.e. minutes/hours of CPD where 1 hour of CPD = 1 Point is the most approach for allied health in general.
People with lived experiences of mental illness and carer representatives participated in and contributed to the content development and design of the program. Consumers and Carers will continue to participate in all aspects of the program's ongoing development.
All MHPiP Coordinators are mental health nurses and have been consulted across the entire process. They, in turn, consulted with mental health experts and allied health leads in their local health districts.
NSW Health staff can access training via My Health Learning.
The program is available for all staff and the learning materials will be available online via My Health Learning.
Staff who enrol will also have access to workbooks that guide you with tasks and activities to help apply the knowledge and skills on the job.
Participants will work alongside MHPiP facilitators to support their learning goals. Facilitators will be identified locally in partnership with managers and MHPiP coordinators.
MHPiP is being comprehensively evaluated by an independent organisation, the Nous Group
The evaluation focuses on:
The program will be evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Data will be collected through pre/post training surveys at determined intervals, as well as focus groups, interviews and case site visits.