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Guidelines

• Choose an aspect of contemporary MH nursing where there is scope for improvement in practice and identify what innovation you would introduce to improve practice.

o For example, this could be the organisation and delivery of care, or patient assessment and evaluation.
o Your proposed innovation must be related to improving patient outcomes, care or service delivery
o Consider your experiences in clinical practice and choose a subject where you personally would be able to introduce something.
o Avoid large issues (such as shortages of staff) where you would have difficulty in making a difference personally.

Aspect of MH nursing: ‘organisation and delivery of care’ or ‘improving patient outcomes’

Topic: HEALTHY EATING

• Target group: SUs in rehabilitation, about to transition into the community (home)

• Intervention: Showing service users how to make a curry, rather than buying take away food; group cooking and eating events twice a week – organise a menu, shopping for ingredients, cook the food, eat together, reflect on the experience (how they felt, what could have gone better). Have theme week or theme night.
• Aim: To improve independent living skills; to educate service users about the better health value of home cooking; to reduce risks related co-morbid conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
• My Rationale for the topic / my interest in this issue: the needs of service users and wishing to improve their overall quality of life
o Use what the literature says to further justify your choice.
• Consider the evidence base.
o What does the research say about your topic?
o What influences this currently? (Why are things the way they are?)
o What are the suggested improvements and how are these supported in the research?
o Appraise the quality of the evidence with reference to validity/reliability/trustworthiness, use this to develop your argument.
• Search terms you could use: mental health and diet; mental health and heart disease; and diabetes; MH and independent living skills / ADLs (activities of daily living); MH and cooking skills; MH and healthy eating; ….

• You must demonstrate evidence of critical thinking.

o Do not accept practice or the evidence base without engaging in critical thought.
o Is there conflicting research?
o What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research in relation to your chosen aspect of contemporary nursing?
o What is the significance of the findings?
o What are the challenges?
o You must support your judgements with reasoning.
• Make links to other themes within the module.
o Professional values – ethical and legal framework
o Nursing practice – evidence based, competence, systematic approaches to care
o Decision Making – evidence based; different theories of decision making; innovation
o Leadership and management – different theories of leadership
o Teamworking – multidisciplinary(MD) teams
• For example, you should consider how you might implement the change drawing on themes such as decision making, innovation and/or leadership theory?

• Question that needs clarification: what is the balance between focusing on the process of introducing the improvement in practice and discussion of the intervention