The I Will Help You mental health initiative: A pedagogy for nursing leadership and a call to action for nurses

Mental illness is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in society. Undergraduate nursing students designed and implemented a mental health awareness campaign called the I Will Help You initiative as part of their senior leadership nursing course. The aims of the initiative were to: spread awareness on mental illness; give the general public the skills and resources needed to identify and assist individuals who are struggling with mental illness; and decrease the stigma surrounding mental illness. A website, four online educational modules, four social media accounts, and two videos were designed by the students in order to promote the initiative. One month following the initiative's launch, the website had over 4000 page views, the videos had over 20,000 views, there were over 200 pledges, and the educational modules had 60 users. The initiative received substantial media attention and was featured via a variety of platforms including: a local news story, numerous health blogs, the state nurses' website and across the university campus. The I Will Help You initiative provided real life application of nursing leadership to an undergraduate student population while building a sustainable, evidence-based tool that can be used as a public health resource for mental illness.