Promoting mental health concepts in a doctor of nursing practice curriculum: An integrated and global approach

Mental health disorders represent a significant burden across all nations with the vast majority of people being undiagnosed and/or undertreated. There is an urgent need to address these mental health disparities and to implement strategies that will improve appropriate diagnosis and treatment at both the local and international level. Two solutions will be discussed in this paper. First, an integrated care model which has the potential to decrease fragmentation of care and barriers to appropriate treatment. Second, the training and education of nurses in basic mental health competencies. This paper argues that nurses are well positioned to help meet the growing need for mental health care in a variety of health care settings. This paper will describe an educational workshop that was part of a plan to incorporate mental health concepts across a Doctor of Nursing Practice curriculum. It is believed that the underlying concepts of this educational model are transferrable to other countries and can serve as a template for improving the ability to identify, treat, and manage mental health care.