Advanced Practice in Mental Health Nursing : A European Perspective

This textbook explores issues central to the provision of recovery-orientated care based on ethical principles and human rights perspectives. Written by academics and nurse practitioners, this comprehensive text draws together theory, research and practice to map the landscape of Advanced Practice in Mental Health Nursing (APMHN) in Europe. Underpinned by a rights- and relational- based approach to care, the textbook is organized around six themes: theoretical and historical perspectives; foundations for collaborative working; therapeutic engagement in different contexts; beyond the clinical dimension of the APMHN role; advancing the evidence-based practice agenda and emerging issues and challenges. Each theme consists of a number of chapters that are designed to address different aspects of APMHN.

With a focus on illuminating the collaborating aspect of their role and advancing nurses’ competencies, debates and guidance are provided in areas such as therapeutic alliance, assessment, care-planning, mental health promotion, family work, trauma, diversity and culture, spirituality, risk and uncertainty, and prescribing. In addition to addressing the leadership, education and advocacy role, specific chapters explore the APMHN role in linking evidence to practice, in the participatory generation of evidence and maintaining professional competence. With a focus on future challenges and opportunities the textbook concludes with discussion on issues, such as eMental Health and future challenges and possibilities facing APMHNs, including challenges in informing policy, democratizing services, working across service and disciplinary boundaries, collaboratively shaping the evidence agenda, as well sustaining their role into the future.

Within the book theoretical debate is grounded in case studies and/or examples from across Europe. This textbook is especially relevant to Mental Health Nurses undertaking studies at the Advanced Practice level. It is also suited to all Mental Health Nurses studying at post-graduate level who wish to advance their practice irrespective of the country. Educators, researchers and policy-makers involved in the area of Mental Health and Advanced Nursing Practice along with people with lived experiences will find the text of relevance.

Agnes Higgins is a professor in Mental Health at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin Ireland, where she teaches and supervises across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and leads a team of lecturers and researchers in developing quality evidence to inform mental health practice, education and policy decisions.  She is a qualified mental health nurse, general nurse and nurse teacher and has worked as a practitioner in mental health and palliative care.  She has a strong research and publication record and has held numerous research grant from Irish and EU research bodies. In addition to being a member of national and international groups in the area of mental health, she is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin Ireland and a Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She is a reviewer for a number of international peer review journals and to-date, has published over 140 papers in peer-reviewed, high-impact journals, 2 books, 13 book chapters and 34 reports for national agencies.

Nina Kilkku is a Principal lecturer in Tampere University of Applied Science in Finland in which she educates and supervises Master’s level students in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Care besides other teaching and RDI activities on national and international level. She co-ordinates this national Master’s program as well as the national post-graduate studies on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Care. Currently she is preparing a new international Master’s program in mental health with other Nordic colleagues. Besides her daily work she is a private psychotherapist in family and couple psychotherapy, the President of European Psychiatric Nurses organization (Horatio) and a member of several national and local projects’ steering groups focusing on mental health issues. She has experience as an editorial board member from two international peer-reviewed journals, as a reviewer in several international journals and as an author herself. Nina has been a member of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Expert Bank in Mental health and she is awarded as a Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (FFNMRCSI).

Gisli Kristofersson is an associate professor of psychiatric nursing at the University of Akureyri. Gisli belongs to various national and international research groups related to different aspects of mental healthcare and nursing education, including advanced practice nursing. Besides his faculty position at the University of Akureyri, Gisli currently holds adjunct faculty positions at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, and University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing as well as in the faculty of nursing at the University of Iceland. Gisli is currently certified as a mental health clinical nurse specialist in Iceland and as a Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in the USA and has extensive clinical outpatient and inpatient experience in both countries, in both private and public settings. Gisli is a board member of the European Psychiatric Nurses organization (Horatio), founding chair of the subchapter of clinical nurse specialists of the Icelandic Nursing Association and currently a member of the Icelandic National Council on Education and Staffing within the Icelandic healthcare system.