Forensic Mental Health Nursing is one of the most highly skilled and challenging fields of nursing. The field is growing in Australia and overseas as more nurses seek to move into this area. This role has a mystique that makes it at once compelling and elusive.

Forensic Mental Health Nurses require highly developed knowledge, skills and attitudes. These can be developed in the workplace with targeted supervision and intensive workplace training and further enhanced with specialist post-graduate training. Forensic Mental Health Nurses in NSW work in a service known as Justice Health and provide assessment and treatment for adults and adolescents with mental illness who have come into contact with the criminal justice system.

Close to 200 mental health nurses currently work in Justice Health and this number is set to double with the opening of a new, state-of-the-art Forensic Hospital in late 2008.

In line with international best practice, this 135 bed high-secure facility will provide an intensive inpatient mental health program outside the prison setting for adult and adolescent males and females. The Forensic Hospital will deliver services for forensic patients along the clinical spectrum from high dependency, acute, extended care and rehabilitation. A limited number of beds will be available for civilian patients with complex and challenging needs.

The Forensic Hospital is the first of its kind in NSW. Physical, procedural and relational security will be integrated into a model that balances the delivery of therapeutic, person-centred programs with a constant eye on safety.

Not all nurses prefer to work in this challenging setting. However, those who do tend not to want to work anywhere else. One nurse who plans to be first in line when the Hospital doors open in late 2008 says: "I love the fact that when I come to work I never know what the day or shift will bring in terms of challenges. I have grown since qualifying as a nurse and the experiences I have gained in forensic mental health will always be with me".

In the Forensic Hospital, nurses will have the opportunity to implement internationally recognised mental health interventions and comprehensive, evidenced-based risk assessments in a therapeutic environment.

The Acute Women's Unit for example will provide gender sensitive care for women by focusing on their individual needs as well as their diagnosis. The knowledge, skills and confidence of nursing staff will ensure relational security is enhanced by contemporary treatment approaches.

The Forensic Hospital occupies spacious grounds. The low-rise buildings create a relaxed feel with walking and cycling tracks traversing the campus. The facilities and grounds have been designed to support diverse clinical needs - from patients who may require short-term care to those who will call this facility home for many years.

Opportunities are available now for experienced mental health nurses interested in becoming part of the Forensic Hospital team. Extensive orientation, training and ongoing support will be provided.

Authors:
Natalie Cutler, Nurse Manager Mental Health,
Julia Shaw, Operational Nurse Manager,
Shona MacLeod, Clinical Nurse Consultant,
Adam Wood, Clinical Nurse Specialist,

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