FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSING

Forensic Mental Health Nursing in All Age Groups



Forensic Mental Health Nursing in All Age Groups

Introduction

Forensic mental health nursing is a specialty that deals with the care of victims of crime, collecting evidence and provides health care in the prison system. It deals collectively with health care and the legal system. Responsibilities of forensic nurses vary according to their area of specialization. They can perform death investigations; examine victims of sexual assault, or working with criminals in jail. They can also advise students who have gone off-track, work in an emergency and provide consulting services (Chaloner, 1999, p.120). They can also train their colleagues on how to treat injured patients. Forensic mental health nursing is studying mental illness in order to promote justice. Forensic mental health deals with the mentally ill, with the establishment in which the criminal or civil justice legislation connects with specific legal consequences (Robinson & Keith, 1996).

On the other hand, in different regions of the increasing demand for forensic services threatens the stability of the financial services and general mental health (Pyrek, 2006). The reasons for this are: crowded forensic psychiatric units make use general psychiatry beds for "placement" of patients, forensic, and in some regions of law enforcement abuse instruction placed in the hospital(Rassool, 2006). In addition, because of hospitalization in forensic psychiatric institutions forced to change the planned distribution of material resources, the staff of institutions of general psychiatric believe that finance unjustly taken away from hospitals and community care system for the treatment and transfer of "criminals" in the forensic units and in prisons (Kettles, 2002, p56).

Thus, in fact there was a division into two different services that should be a single integrated system of care for mental disorders. This paper discusses issues related to the development of forensic mental health care in the UK and its role in the functioning of mental health services. In addition, some general guidelines for improving integration within the continuum of mental health care (Pyrek, 2006, p12).

The Development Of Forensic Mental Health Care In The UK

The number of establishments of that type increased steadily and by Britain and France, the model was exported to the rest of the world. This growth peaked in the mid-fifties, and then began a gradual reduction in the number of people locked up. In those years he went in fact a change of opinion about the way in which the company is to assist the mentally ill (National Forensic Nurses' Research and Development Group, 2008). The concept of care in the community was precisely in that period. Since then it has continued to grope to change the system of mental health care in several ways (McMurran, et al., 2009, pp. 75-88). They include:

Legislation and National Policies

1959: Mental Health Act (Decree of mental health). The typical mode of admission becomes the informal (Shuker & Sullivan, 2010).

1975: Mental Health Policy is the first act in the UK formulates the concept of community mental health and indicates the need for a ...