Nursing staff in all areas of health care are in an ideal position to be able to promote good mental health. They often have a holistic view of people’s health needs, what their challenges are and their ability to cope which need to be factored into all aspects of care.
Most of us are aware of the importance of good mental health:
"the emotional and spiritual resilience which allows us to enjoy life and to survive pain, disappointment and sadness. It is a positive sense of well-being and an underlying belief in our own, and others’ dignity and worth.” (Health Education Authority, 1997).
You can take a quiz to explore your own mental wellbeing through It is an essential component to all public health, our mental wellbeing in reality underpins our capability to make healthy life choices and our ability to sustain healthy behaviour. See RCN supporting behaviour change resource.
Good mental health is key to us having the best quality of life that we can as individuals, but our families, communities and workplaces can shape our mental wellbeing in the same ways that they impact our physical health. So it is important to have strategies to raise wellbeing on a community and societal level as well as targeting individuals.
See: Public Health England, Wellbeing and mental health: Applying All Our Health (2019).
