Mental health nursing and the pursuit of professional equivalence
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Mental health nursing and the pursuit of professional equivalence

Henry Bladon Policy director, Chase Lodge Care Ltd, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England

Mental health nursing is often regarded as a low-status occupation not only by the general public and fellow healthcare professionals, but also by fellow nurses. This perception has a profound effect on the identity, self-esteem and recruitment of mental health nurses. It also has wider implications for health promotion, and forms part of the parity-of-esteem narrative between mental and physical health.

This article explores equivalence in nursing, why the problem about equivalence came into being, how it is perpetuated and what steps those involved could take to raise the profile of mental health nursing.

Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1344

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

henry@chaselodge.co.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Bladon H (2019) Mental health nursing and the pursuit of professional equivalence. Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1344

Published online: 04 June 2019

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more