nursingforsocialjustice

Is psychiatric nursing, nursing? This was the question administrators, legislators, nurses and physicians in Canada grappled with almost 100 years ago. The question was settled. Of course psychiatric nursing is nursing. And in the 21st century to meet changing understanding of mental health and illness, and the changing role of the nurse many places now use the term mental health nurse instead of psychiatric nurse. But, in 2020 in many ways scholars in nursing continue struggling to answer the question of how exactly is mental health nursing different than general nursing (a dichotomy in itself that to me seems problematics)? And, is psychiatric nursing conceptually different than mental health nursing?

Some of the struggle is rooted in the separation between healthcare for the body and healthcare services for the mind. What is this mind/body split that we perpetuate? Bodies don’t exist without minds and minds live inside bodies. It’s a curious stance to take that nursing the person doesn’t include nursing the whole person. Over the 20th century understanding evolved about how we have come to understand the illness and wellness experience.

In many respects the silos that we have in nursing were created and are reinforced by the structure of the healthcare system. They reinforce the myth that illness lives within a specific diagnosis and a specific body part. At what point do we say, f-this, it’s time to re-structure the system to fit our understanding in 2020?