On Friday 19 June 2020 I presented “Saint Dymphna and The Zombies – a mental health nurse’s perspective” at the James Cook University/Cairns Hospital Ground Rounds virtually (ie: via zoom).
The session was initially scheduled to coincide with the Feast Day of Saint Dymphna – 15 May. However, the COVID-19/coronavirus thing put paid to any semblance of crowd gatherings, so the Grand Rounds program was postponed. When the Grand Rounds resumed they were moved out of the auditorium, and (like many things in 2020) went online.
The session has been videoed, please feel free to watch the watch the presentation below.
This page also serves as a collection point for the references and resources used in the presentation.
Saint Dymphna
Info and references re the amazing story of Saint Dymphna has been collated previously on two of my blog posts, here: meta4RN.com/amazing and here: meta4RN.com/dymphna. For the sake of completeness the list of references used is replicated below:
Catholic Online (n.d.) St. Dymphna. Retrieved from www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=222
Catholic Saints Info (2016, 27 July) Saint Dymphna. Retrieved from catholicsaints.info/saint-dymphna
de Botton, A. (2011, July) Alain de Botton: Atheism 2.0 [Video file] Retrieved from www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_atheism_2_0
Franciscan Mission Associates. (n.d.) The Story of St. Dymphna. Retrieved from franciscanmissionassoc.org/prayer-requests/devotional-saints/st-dymphna/story/
Goldstein, J.L. & Godemont, M.M.L. (2003) The Legend and Lessons of Geel, Belgium: A 1500-Year-Old Legend, a 21st-Century Model. Community Mental Health Journal. 39: 441. doi: 10.1023/A:1025813003347
Ireland’s Eye (n.d.) Saint Dymphna. Retrieved from www.irelandseye.com/irish/people/saints/dympna.shtm
Jay, M. (2014, 9 January) The Geel question. Retrieved from aeon.co/essays/geel-where-the-mentally-ill-are-welcomed-home
Kirsch, J.P. (1909). St. Dymphna. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from New Advent: www.newadvent.org/cathen/05221b.htm
Novena (n.d.) Feast of St. Dympna. Retrieved from novena.com/2013/05/15/feast-of-st-dymphna/
Openbaar Psychiatrisch Zorgcentrum (OPZ) – Geel website www.opzgeel.be/en/home/htm/intro.asp
Rabenstein, K.I. (1998) Saint of the day. Retrieved from www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0515.shtml
Wikipedia (2016, 21 September) Dymphna. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymphna
The Zombies
Photo of zombie nurses source: Roberts, A. (2015, 9 March) Zombie nurses raise funds for international medical exchange, ABC Capricornia
www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/03/09/4193789.htm
Established in 2010, the Australian Health Professional Registration Agency (AHPRA) does not recognise any Nursing specialities [source], but recognises 23 specialities in Medicine and over 60 sub-specialities [source].
Lakeman, R. and Molloy, L. (2018), Rise of the zombie institution, the failure of mental health nursing leadership, and mental health nursing as a zombie category. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, Volume 27, Issue 3, pp. 1009-1014. doi.org/10.1111/inm.12408
Principal area of main job for Australian Nurses (top five):
1️⃣ Aged Care
2️⃣ Medical
3️⃣ Surgical
4️⃣ Peri-Operative
5️⃣ Mental Health
[Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2016, June 9). Nursing and midwifery workforce 2015, web report: source]
There are over 22,000 nurses working in mental health settings in Australia [Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2020, January 30). Mental health services in Australia, web report: source]. It is not known how many of them hold specific undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications in mental health. There are no mechanisms in place to prevent a nurse with no specialist mental health qualifications working in a specialist mental health setting.
There are over 3,200 members of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses [ACMHN 2017-2018 Annual Report: source] – this equates to approx 14.5% of the nurses working in mental health settings. From my involvement with ACMHN, I am confident that nearly all members either hold or are working towards a specialist qualification in mental health.
There are 1235 nurses who are credentialed (ie: peer reviewed and confirmed to have appropriate qualifications and experience, participation in clinical supervision, and contribution to the profession) by the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses [ACMHN 2019 Media Kit, source] – about 5.5% of the total.
58% of the nurses working in mental health settings are aged 45+, 33% are aged 55+ [Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2020, January 30). Mental health services in Australia, web report: source].
Hildegard Peplau (1909-1999) is to Mental Health Nursing what Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) is to General Nursing [source].
End
Thanks for showing an interest in the presentation.
As always, your feedback is welcome in the comments section below.
Paul McNamara, 20 June 2020
Short URL: meta4RN.com/zombies
meta4RN 