Background
The project focuses on human rights and dignity in mental health care area. National and international collaboration among different health care and education organisations, however, is slight. The topic is important because mental problems are an international and national concern in various European countries. The professional competence of nursing personnel in mental health care has also been declared to be a major challenge in Europe.
Qualified nurses in different European countries share the problems of psychiatric nursing and education. Rates of involuntary hospitalization are reported to vary widely across Europe. Use of patient restriction is a complex dilemma in psychiatric care that is linked to the questions of an individual’s right to self-determination, human rights, and to the ethical responsibilities of nurses. Psychiatric nursing of a high ethical standard requires personnel who are professionally skilled and committed to their mission. This is not possible without goal-oriented, systematic continuing education.
Ensuring high quality, ethically sensitive nursing care especially in the management of distressed and disturbed patients is necessitates a critical appraisal of these interventions. Therefore, alternative ways of dealing with unwanted or harmful behaviours need to be developed and continuing use of seclusion or restraint must therefore be questioned. This project creates new opportunities to discuss and develop the quality of continuing vocational training in Europe.
However, the quality, content and methods of continuing professional training for qualified nurses working in European psychiatric hospitals and inpatient units are fragmentary.
The overall goal of the project is to ensure high quality, ethically appropriate and therapeutically effective interventions to enable nurses to manage distressed and disturbed patients in European psychiatric hospitals and inpatient units.