Being an Inspiring Mental Health Field Practitioner Assignment Sample

Introduction : Being an Inspiring Mental Health Field Practitioner

Peer mentors are delineated as professional care workers who are well aware about the situation of individuals whom they are supporting. They have been through experiences that have enabled them to connect with service users. Mental health nursing enhances patient outcomes and experiences (Shalaby and Agyapong, 2020). The nursing question that will be focused in current assignment is “How Peer Mentoring can be implemented in mental health nursing for enhancing patient centred care and support”? It is important to implement peer mentoring programme so that consistent support can be ensured to patient. Peer mentors emphasise on providing emotional, social and practical support to patients. It led to encourage open communication and consequently, chances of recovery increases. Therefore, I believe that including peer mentors in mental health nursing enhances patient outcomes.

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Background to the choice of change management

Historically, mental health nursing confronted huge criticism for being institutionally focused where patients felt powerless and stigmatized. The accountability is to empower patients by interacting and connecting with them and peer mentoring has the potential to undertake this change by providing consistent support to service users. Findings have shown that existing practices within mental health care rely on professional staff however, peer mentoring has the potential to offer diverse and unique perspective that enhances patient outcomes (Kachaturoff et al, 2020). It enables professional care workers to share their mental health complexities and struggles with mentees and this develops a deep bond among the patient and care workers. They act as a role model for their mentees and consequently empower them to deal with the issues and further motivate them to create pathways.

Peer mentoring is based on mutual assistance where mentors use their own experience for providing support to patient. The gap between medical staff and patient has been increasing to greater extent in mental health nursing and the reason behind this aligns with lack of support to patient. Mental health is considered as such issues that requires consistent assurance and most importantly patient needs to be empowered and resilience capabilities needs to be enhanced in them (Kachaturoff et al, 2020). Peer mentoring covers all of these components and thereby, it can bridge the gap between patient and medical staff. Peer mentors have the potential and accordingly they can assist in navigating treatment plans along with understanding medical management necessity. In this manner gap between patient and healthcare professionals can be decreased.

Rationale

It the study of Mutschler et al, (2022) it has been witnessed that peer mentoring within mental health nursing proves to be significant approach that aims of enhancing patient outcomes. There are diverse ways in which peer mentoring can be used for enhancing patient outcomes. The patient catered care is highly essential in mental health nursing as this approach focuses on considering the needs of service users and accordingly, further decisions are taken. The shared experience of the peer mentors fosters trust in patients and encourages them to share their issues can doubts. Further, sense of belongingness has been developed in the service users. Whereas, White et al, (2020) emphasised on another positive aspect of peer mentoring. Approaching peer mentors in clinical settings led to reduced stigma and assures support to patients at the time of emergency. Empathy can be ensured towards service users and empathetic perspectives can be set that normalise complexities comprised to mental health. It is important to develop sense of belongingness in patients so they can feel that they have been understood. This is possible via peer mentoring as mutual assistance and shared experience contribute in creating such thoughts in the mind of service user. In this manner, significant support can be ensured to patient and they can be empowered.

The Empowerment and Recovery-Oriented Approach is prioritised by peer mentors. Hence, there is no doubt in depicting that peer mentors in mental health nursing act as an example for patients and accordingly, service users get motivation which empowers them. In the opinion of Richard et al, (2022) peer mentoring improves clinical outcomes and supports staff. Peer mentoring support reduces the stay length of patients in hospitals and increases the recovery rate. Further, better coping mechanisms have been experienced which led to decrease the strain on staff. They further act as an important resource for the mental health nursing staff. Their insights contribute in adopting patient centred care approaches in the team (Kramer et al, 2021). Integration of peer mentors has been proven cost-effective as the support from peer mentors can alleviate pressure on staff and further support healthcare system to undertake the optimum utilisation of resources for improving patient outcomes.

Based on the literature this can be said that peer mentoring is an important approach that must be used within mental health nursing. The rationale behind selecting this topic is concerned with creating a transformation in mental health nursing where patients can get quality care and the burden on staff can be reduced. The gap between medical staff and patients could be reduced and further optimal utilisation of the resources can be done and quality care can be assured to service users.

Recommendations

For the implementation of peer mentoring within mental health nursing below mentioned practices must be considered-

Including peer mentors with ongoing supervision- It is important to involve peer mentors while consistent supervision of patients. Day-to-day communication should be undertaken between peer mentors and service users (Hoover et al, 2020). This contributes in knowing about the realistic situation of the patient and accordingly, peer mentors can take strategies to assure support to the patient. During ongoing supervision, everything related to patient needs to be communicated so that appropriate decisions can be taken into consideration.

Integration with Multidisciplinary team- Peer mentoring groups should be involved with multidisciplinary teams. A Multidisciplinary peer-mentoring group can assist in undertaking collaborative approach and consistent support to service users can be ensured (Hoover et al, 2020). Multidisciplinary teams are aligned with at least one patient and varied health professionals who are from different disciplines. In order to treat and support mental health patients it is important to involve peer mentors in the team so that mutual assistance with service users can be developed and quality outcomes can be gained.

Training programme- The training programmes must be organised and staff should be guided in terms of working with peer mentors. The motive of such training programme aligns with developing a collaborative approach in which peer mentors can collaborate with other healthcare professionals and quality decision-making can be undertaken for patients (Markowski et al, 2021). However, equal opportunities for peer mentors should be given for sharing their thoughts and opinions. Staff members should not demean their opinions as they have lived the actual experiences of mental health patients and therefore, appropriate collaboration is required to be implemented.

Training to peer mentors for crisis intervention- Peer mentors should be trained in first aid and crisis intervention so they can effectively tackle patients during emergencies. Crisis management training enables peer mentors to equip essential skills for coping up with uncertainties (Markowski et al, 2021). This training led to enhance the ability of peer mentors in terms of reducing the intensity of patient with regards to behavioural reaction towards a significant crisis. However, peer mentors are well aware about this aspect but consistent training led to enhancing their efficacy in this field and effectual outcomes could be gained.

Change strategy

In order to imply change in clinical setting, it is important to follow a specific procedure that supports in introduction of change in specific manner. In the context of current change, Kotter’s Change Management Model is appropriate as it supports in overcoming the barriers-

Sense of urgency- There is need to develop the awareness of change and this can be done via educating medical staff and other health professionals within the setting. The importance of peer mentoring in mental health nursing requires to be communicated with staff.

Powerful coalition- The major stakeholders are, healthcare professionals, nursing staff, patients, policymakers, peer mentors, clinicians, patient association and administration team. The coalition with each stakeholder must be made so that diverse opinions can be known and accordingly, actions can be taken.

Vision for change- The vision needs to be developed as it supports in implementation of change in significant manner. The vision aligns with promoting patient centred care and reducing the gap between medical staff and service users. Thus, inclusion of peer mentoring in mental health nursing contributes to promoting patient recovery while assuring quality care and reducing the burden on staff.

Communication- The next step is to communicate change with everyone at the setting (Kotter’s change management model, 2023). In case, communication has not been undertaken then, this leads to create doubts in the minds of other members and therefore, consistent communication is needed so this can be known whether peer mentors or other members are comfortable or not.

Empowering others- Each member should be empowered and most importantly the peer mentor. They will be new at the setting and they might face difficulty and thereby, it is the accountability of staff members that they must undertake collaborative approach.

Creating short-term terms- The short-term terms wins should be celebrated for instance; peer mentors will lead to reduce the workload of healthcare professionals and further faster recovery of patient become possible. In this manner, short-term wins must be celebrated as this motivates staff members to perform their tasks in significant manner.

Consolidating gains- The gains must be consolidated and further change must be undertaken. The collaborative approach among, peer mentors, patients and multidisciplinary team integrates a culture of care where patient needs will be prioritised.

Adopting change as a part of culture- The last step is to adopt the change as a part of organisational culture (Kotter’s change management model, 2023). In this stage, peer mentors will considered as part of clinical setting and they will perform significant role in delivering. High-quality care to patients. In this manner, change can be effectively implemented in the clinical setting and accordingly, support to patients could be assured.

Plan of change

The plan of change will be associated with the implementation of peer mentoring programs within one mental health unit in a large hospital [The confidentiality of the setting has been prioritised and no disclosure of name would be done]. The Programme will be led by senior nurse leader who will look upon the training and supervision of peer mentors. It is important to train peer mentors with regard to medical management essentials so they can effectively look upon the attributes that are needed to be taken (Kachaturoff et al, 2020). In this program cross-communication with peer mentors will be made and their opinions will be taken into consideration. The motive of the program is to encourage and empower the patients so that faster recovery can be assured. The staff members will be guide with respect to making collaborative approaches with peer mentors so that effectual results can be gained. This step will lead to a change within the setting and significant support can be assured to patients. Furthermore, this results in reducing the excessive workload on the staff. Henceforth, the focus would be implied on this area and accordingly, appropriate actions will be taken.

Reflection on leadership style

As an inspirational leader, my belief aligns with the implementation of change. There are certain strengths that enable me in terms on undertaking this change in significant manner. I am passionate about patient-centred care; I believe that in clinical setting care needs to be provided as per the needs and requirements of patient as this led to increases the chances of recovery. My passion is acting as a motivational element for me that inspires me to implement the change. I have transformational leadership style and therefore, my prior motive is to enhance patient outcomes. I have effective communication skill that supports in undertaking interaction with each of the stakeholder. In this manner information is going to be exchanged in significant manner and change can be implemented.

I can form coalitions and partnerships; this led to support in the implementation of partnerships with peer mentors. The flexibility and adaptability capabilities enable in adopting the change (Busby et a, 2022). I will use transformational leadership style and accordingly, staff members would be motivated to adopt the change. However, there are certain weaknesses that might impact the procedure in negative manner. I have lack of EI capabilities and due to this, I am not able to understand the emotions of other people. However, I need to imply focus on this area as this can act as a potential barrier in the change management process. For taking this change forward, I am going to focus on building interaction with stakeholders and this will ensure that program proves to be responsive towards the needs of patients and staff.

Evaluation of plan

Evaluation is an important aspect in change management procedure as it provides an idea whether the implemented change is providing significant outcomes or not. The evaluation plan will consist of-

Patient Survey- This led to develop important insights related to patient care. From the survey, this will be identified that whether satisfaction level of patient has been enhanced or not. The experiences of the service users will be analysed so this can be known whether they are receiving quality care or not. Hence, patient surveys will lead to know about the realistic outcomes of the change.

Feedback from staff- The feedback from the staff helps in knowing whether their workload has been reduced or not (Fortuna et al, 2022). One of the main motives of the change is to reduce the workload on staff members and decreasing the gap between medical staff and patients. Therefore, feedback from the staff will be taken and accordingly succeeding rate of change can be known.

Recovery timing and length of stay- These are the other KPIs that led to analyse the succeeding rate of change. Peer mentors will interact with patient and subsequent support will be provided to them (Cornine, 2020). Thus, recovery timing and length of stay will be assessed for identifying whether peer mentoring is providing effectual outcomes or not.

This change management procedure has provided me effectual opportunity to learn about the ways in which transformative approach can be undertaken and change can be implied. I have learned a lesson and I can say that peer mentoring is highly important to be considered in mental health nursing. There is need to empower the patients by understanding their experiences and values. A mental health patient requires consistent support and therefore, peer mentors are important so they can understand the complexities and issues of patient and accordingly, support can be ensured to them.

REFERENCES

Books and Journals

• Busby, K. R., Draucker, C. B., & Reising, D. L. (2022). Exploring mentoring and nurse faculty: an integrative review. Journal of Professional Nursing, 38, 26-39.
• Cornine, A. (2020). Reducing nursing student anxiety in the clinical setting: An integrative review. Nursing education perspectives, 41(4), 229-234.
• Fortuna, K. L., Solomon, P., & Rivera, J. (2022). An update of peer support/peer provided services underlying processes, benefits, and critical ingredients. Psychiatric Quarterly, 93(2), 571-586.
• Hoover, J., Koon, A. D., Rosser, E. N., & Rao, K. D. (2020). Mentoring the working nurse: a scoping review. Human resources for health, 18, 1-10.
• Kachaturoff, M., Caboral-Stevens, M., Gee, M., & Lan, V. M. (2020). Effects of peer-mentoring on stress and anxiety levels of undergraduate nursing students: An integrative review. Journal of Professional Nursing, 36(4), 223-228.
• Kramer, D. S., McCue, V. Y., Butler, E., Prentiss, A. S., Ojeda, M. M., Tugg, K. K., ... & Bonet, S. (2021). The art of nurse mentoring: A framework of support. Nursing & Health Sciences Research Journal, 4(1), 16-25.
• Markowski, M., Bower, H., Essex, R., & Yearley, C. (2021). Peer learning and collaborative placement models in health care: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis of the literature. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 30(11-12), 1519-1541.
• Mutschler, C., Bellamy, C., Davidson, L., Lichtenstein, S., & Kidd, S. (2022). Implementation of peer support in mental health services: A systematic review of the literature. Psychological Services, 19(2), 360.
• Richard, J., Rebinsky, R., Suresh, R., Kubic, S., Carter, A., Cunningham, J. E., ... & Sorin, M. (2022). Scoping review to evaluate the effects of peer support on the mental health of young adults. BMJ open, 12(8), e061336.
• Shalaby, R. A. H., & Agyapong, V. I. (2020). Peer support in mental health: literature review. JMIR mental health, 7(6), e15572.
• White, S., Foster, R., Marks, J., Morshead, R., Goldsmith, L., Barlow, S., ... & Gillard, S. (2020). The effectiveness of one-to-one peer support in mental health services: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC psychiatry, 20, 1-20.

Online

Kotter’s change management model, 2023. Online. Available through < https://www.kotterinc.com/methodology/8-steps/ >

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