FIRST ENTER MENTAL HEALTH WEBINAR
NURSING DURING THE PANDEMIC
The Mission of ENTER is to promote the highest standards of mental health promotion, training and care in Europe based on collaborative research.
The theme of this series of webinars “Nursing in mental health: the changing role of nurses in mental health and psychiatry in Europe” was selected to celebrate nurses working in mental health and psychiatry, as the year 2020 has been designated as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife by the World Health Organization in recognition of theirs contributions and the risks associated with nursing shortages.
On Thursday 3rd September 2020 took place the First ENTER Webinar of the Nursing in Mental Health series.
Silvia Rosado Figuerola, Nurse Specialist in Mental Health from Spain, Arnaud Torne Advanced Practice Nurse from France, Prof. Agnes Higgins, Professor in Mental Health, School of Nursing & Midwiferys at Trinity College, Ireland, Prof. Rhonda Wilson, Credentialed Mental Health Nurse, Professor in Nursing at the University of Newcastle, Australia and Prof. Marja Kaunonen, Professor in Nursing Science and Head of Health Sciences in Tampere University, Finland, shared their experiences on how the pandemic affected the way we nurse, train and do research in mental health during the pandemic.
We saw that there are common problems and challenges across different countries and health systems, regarding the availability of personal protection equipment, continuity of care for and communication with people with mental health problems, increased workload and anxiety. The way professionals and students adapted in each country was discussed and the need for policies and strategies to promote empowerment of nurses was stressed.
The pandemic made resourcefulness of nurses and values underpinning nursing even more visible. As Prof. Kaunonen, Chair of ENTER Mental Health noted at the end of her presentation: “During the spring my perception has strengthened about the importance of nurses work. When the rest of the world stops, nurses continue their works towards the wellbeing of other people”.
Presentations from the webinar will be available on ENTER’s website.
Next webinar: Nursing in Mental Health: Nursing And New Tech will be on October 8th, Thursday – 3 pm. till 5 pm. CET (Zoom).