Engaging undergraduate mental health nursing students in recovery orientated practice through service user involvement: a mixed methods study

Introduction and Background: Current mental health policy is committed to the involvement of service users both in mental health service delivery and in the education of health care professionals. However, this is an under-researched area that requires further attention to understand the potential effect of service user involvement on student‘s clinical practice and the influence it has on student‘s perceptions of service users and mental illness. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the current study was to establish the extent, and examine the perceived effect of service user involvement in undergraduate mental health nurse education in the Republic of Ireland. The objectives were to: (1) establish the national extent of service user involvement in the education of undergraduate mental health nurses; (2) examine students‘ experiences of service user involvement in their education; and (3) examine service users‘ experiences of being involved in undergraduate mental health nurse education. Design: The current study adopted a two phased sequential mixed methods design. In phase one a national survey was conducted with all 12 Departments of Nursing in educational institutions in the Republic of Ireland to establish the national extent of service user involvement in undergraduate mental health nursing programmes. In phase two semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 students and four service users to explore their experiences of service user involvement. Main Findings: The findings from the national survey indicate that the extent of service user involvement in Irish undergraduate mental health nursing programmes varies to a large degree. Some nursing departments welcome service user involvement not only in the theoretical delivery of their nursing programmes but also in areas of curriculum development and programme evaluations. In contrast, other departments have no service user involvement at any level, with no future plans to incorporate it in any aspect of their programme. The key qualitative findings indicated that the experience of service user involvement shifted the students‘ focus away from the constraints imposed by a diagnosis, and recognised the service user as a person with a wealth of expertise acquired through their personal experiences. Following the integration of both data sets the following four sub-themes also emerged, 'learning from experiential knowledge delivered through narrative', 'From practical to personal', 'From illness to wellness -a beacon of hope' and 'Progression of practice'. The super ordinate theme that emerged was 'Service User Involvement: A Journey towards Recovery Orientated practice'. Conclusion: This study highlights that service user involvement in undergraduate mental health nurse education has the potential to be an influential factor in student‘s ability to adopt a recovery orientated approach to clinical practice. Contemporary mental health policy strongly stipulates that recovery orientated practices need to be adopted by mental health nurses. The current study indicates how the vision for recovery orientated practices could potentially be achieved through the involvement of service users in professional education.