Victoria's mental health sector is heading toward a staffing crisis as the psychological wellbeing of nurses suffers as a result of verbal and physical aggression, acutely unwell patients, conflict among colleagues, bullying, and high workloads.
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A new study has found high rates of ongoing stress were likely to lead to many mental health nurses quitting the industry, putting patient care at risk.
"There is a critical national shortage of nurses in mental health and attrition of the mental health nursing workforce is due in large part to workplace stressors," said Australian Catholic University's Mental Health Nursing Research Unit head Professor Kim Foster.
It's really concerning because mental health nurses are biggest group providing the most clinical care in mental health and we are reliant on them.
- Professor Kim Foster
Professor Foster surveyed almost 500 Victorian mental health nurses and found nurses with less than 10 years experience reported the greatest stress.
Regional mental health nurses often suffer extra stress because there are fewer services available to people with mental health issues, and patients may present in greater need.
"Certainly in regional areas if people are not accessing or can't access mental health services, by the time they get to hospital, usually through the ED, they are very, very unwell," she said.
There is a projected undersupply of 18,500 mental health nurses by 2030, leading to fears the industry will not be able to cope with patient demand in the near future and the situation will move from a shortage to a "full blown crisis".
Professor Foster said her study, published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, revealed one of the biggest stresses that mental health nurses reported was staff shortages, and additional funding from government and health services was urgently needed to recruit more staff.
But she conceded attracting mental health nurses, particularly in regional areas, could be difficult.
If the current shortage continues, the implications could be dire. "What it means is, and what has happened in some areas, is bed closures and an inability to provide care and take people in to services literally because there aren't enough staff to provide care.
"It's an extremely important issue the government and mental health services are very aware of."
Up to 70 per cent of mental health nurses have reported physical aggression, with bullying by colleagues and conflict between colleagues also a concern.
High numbers of acutely unwell patients coupled with lack of resources, and lack of supportive management and effective leadership also ranked highly among the causes of stress among mental health workers.
"It's really concerning because mental health nurses are biggest group providing the most clinical care in mental health and we are reliant on them," Prof Foster said.
"There's a whole range of things that need to be done, and the main one is to try to reduce some of the causes of the stress and other is to support them mentally and emotionally in order for them to be able to do the work."
Professor Foster said her findings on workplace stress supported the need for the state-wide initiatives to reduce occupational violence and mental health service initiatives to improve the safety and well-being of patients and staff.
Part of that would involve supporting nursing students with wellbeing and resilience-building strategies during their undergraduate education, and to support new graduates with similar programs.
Ballarat Health was asked for comment on the issue but declined.
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