Introduction

There is no health without mental health. One in four people experience a mental health problem during their lifetime. Nurses - and specifically mental health nurses - are the largest professional group involved in mental health care in the UK. For more than a century mental health nurses have provided support and treatment to people experiencing a wide range of mental health problems across many settings.

The RCN Mental Health Forum is for all RCN members with an interest, but especially mental health nurses, who are encouraged to join by visiting www.rcn.org.uk/myrcn

Mission Statement

The RCN Mental Health Forum aims to assist the development and communication of best practice within our profession by providing an environment for shaping practice, innovation, research and influencing policy that is relevant to people with mental health problems and their families and carers.

The Steering Committee

The Mental Health Forum Steering Committee is currently comprised of five RCN members who have been interviewed and appointed to the committee. Appointments are based on the ability of the individual to lead a forum project and contribute to the wider aims of the forum and the RCN. The committee members elect one of their number as the chair of the forum. The committee represents the interests of the wider forum membership.

The committee provides a route for organising and mobilising the wider forum membership to participate in projects and activities consistent with the values and interests of the mental health nursing profession and the strategic aims of the RCN, across the three themes of policy, practice and public understanding.

The committee does this by:
 
● Providing opportunities for members to network, share ideas and move to action
● Consulting with members and the public on contemporary issues in order to represent the voice of mental health nurses
● Drawing on individual’s expertise to inform decisions in the interests of the public and the profession
● Sponsoring projects, which deliver the RCN's and the forum's strategic aims.

The committee provides a mental health nursing membership, iterative, link with the RCN’s infrastructure, resources and departments. It facilitates this by working with individual members, RCN special interest groups and other stakeholders with an interest in mental health nursing and wider mental health issues.

The committee uses a project-by-project approach to deliver products for members. Each committee member will take responsibility for the development and submitting of project proposals to the RCN’s forum governance committee. Such projects will be consistent with both the forum’s and the RCN’s strategic aims, and be achievable within specific timescales and the available resources.

The committee meets annually to discuss and debate current issues and to manage and monitor the forum's project plans.
Reports on the forum's work are available through the minutes of the meetings and through publications in journals such as Nursing Minds and Mental Health Practice.

The work of the forum benefits from the contributions of an active membership. If you wish to get involved please contact committee members whose details are listed on their meet the team page.