P.I.N.E

(Participation in Nursing Education)

Teaching Policy

Contents

Section / Page
No.
Introduction / 3
Why have we developed an independent teaching policy? / 4

The PINE Project

/ 5-6
Timetable of Sessions / 7-8

Guidelines for teaching the PINE sessions

/ 9-11
Supporting documents Intro:
  1. Intro
  1. Ground rules for teaching
  1. Guide to using personal experiences
  1. Practical information at the School of Nursing
  1. Example of confirmation form
/ 12
13
14-15
16-18
19
Reference documents:
  1. Jargon Buster-The School of Nursing Top 21!
  1. Capital – Charter for Service Users Involvement
/ 21
22-23
Acknowledgements / 24
Introduction

PINE is a short hand term for Participation in Nursing Education and is the name for the project that both members of ‘Making Waves’ and tutors in mental health have developed as part of the nursing courses at The University of Nottingham. Making Waves is an independent non profit organisation made up of people who have personal experience of mental distress and who are involved in the evaluation of mental health services, research, education and training, (for further information see

PINE began when people who had lived experience of mental distress from Making Waves were commissioned to review and write a report on the mental health nursing curriculum, ‘Carry on Nursing’, and then worked with lecturers and a facilitator (Sharon Roberts) to develop curriculum sessions, and to research and document the process. Now Making Waves members use their own life experiences to deliver sessions on mental distress on the in Diploma/BSc in Nursing and the Masters in Nursing Science (MNurSci) courses at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy, The University of Nottingham.

The feedback from the nurses is very positive and the University tutors, who run the mental health training, believe that we are having an impact on the way the nurses respond to people who experience mental distress. They have carried out research that shows changes to students’ nursing practice as a result of learning from the group. There is a teaching coordinator at Making Waves who works closely with the tutors to ensure the smooth running of the programme and

co-ordinates the people with lived experience who are responsible for the development and the delivery of the teaching.

Currently there are 8 members of Making Waves who deliver 6 PINE sessions, which are repeated 3 times an academic year, with 1 session repeated 4 times. All people from Making Waves have a huge range of positive and negative experiences of mental health services, as well as life experiences, and provide a comprehensive insight into what it is like to experience mental distress, for the students.

Why have we developed an independent teaching policy?

Making Waves values the commitment and contribution by its teaching tutors. Many people at Making Waves have found that delivering teaching has been uplifting and empowering. We hope that you enjoy doing the teaching and that it becomes a positive part of your recovery from your experiences of mental distress.

At Making Waves we recognise that what our members do is very demanding and is different to other forms of teaching because they have to draw on their life experiences as part of the teaching session. This can be an additional demand both emotionally and practically.

As part of the PINE project the teaching coordinator at Making Waves will make sure that everyone who does the teaching is supported with both training and emotional needs that may come up in the teaching. This will be offered on a one to one in supervision either in person or over the phone and as peer support from other members when we have meetings.

We have been delivering teaching at the University for 7 years now and have found and recognise that talking about past experiences and delivering teaching about mental health as a survivor is potentially stressful for people and we want to minimise any anxiety that this may cause. We feel that it is important that people can be safe when doing this work, and vital so we can continue to be able to take part in making a difference to mental health services and not burn out.

Therefore we have put together some guidelines, as a group, in the form of this policy. Both the Making Waves members and the University tutors have been involved in the writing of this policy for example on the Away Day in 2009 when we took part in a workshop on this policy.

The points that we have put together are not fixed in stone and as we progress in our work we will keep reviewing them and changing them depending on what we find is working in our practice. Many thanks for your commitment.

The PINE Project

Students have to complete a nationally recognized course such as the Diploma/BSc in Nursing in order to become registered nurses and work in the profession. During these 3 years they are expected to attend lectures and complete assignments as well as take part in placements, where they work under supervision in services that are relevant to their chosen field.

For the first year they all take part in the common foundation year where they learn about aspects of nursing that all nurses need to know. At this stage many nurses will have the opportunity to meet Making Waves members in a panel session, when 2-3 Making Waves members will answer questions directly from the students about their experiences.

In the second and third years the nurses go into their chosen areas; adult, child, learning disability and mental health. For the nurses that choose to go into mental health and become psychiatric nurses (both in hospital and community settings) there are 6 PINE sessions that they receive as part of their mental health education.

All these PINE sessions are also delivered to the nurses who have opted to complete the masters course, which is 4 years, called the MNurSci (Masters in Nursing Science). Here is a short summary of all the PINE sessions in order of their appearance in the Nursing diploma curriculum.

Recovery

In this session we aim to bring new insights into the journeys of recovery and the realities of how difficult it is to change. We do this by sharing our stories using different media, through artwork, digital film and creative writing. We identify blocks and barriers to recovery and explain that they can be personal, institutional and societal. We also make nurses aware that the current mental health system can make it harder for people to make changes in their lives. We help nurses to understand that recovery is different for everyone and we support them to see what is helpful and supportive of people’s recovery journey.

Diagnose This!

The presenters put across the case that there is no scientific credibility to psychiatric diagnosis and explain how diagnosis has been developed and used to label people as dysfunctional rather than recognize natural human reactions to distress in their lives. The students are also shown how this supports a profitable business for the pharmaceutical industry and promotes status for the profession. The facilitators draw on their experiences both positive and negative of receiving a diagnosis. For some it may mean access to benefits and support services as well as a validation of what they are experiencing. For others it may also or instead be a discriminating and oppressive impact on their lives through interactions with services as well as a negative impact on our daily lives. The students are encouraged to see the person and understand them rather than be influenced by someone’s diagnosis.

Strategies for Survival

During this session we ask the students to draw upon their own coping strategies for dealing with difficult times and situations. We look at the different forms of coping strategies and reflect upon those that we have used ourselves. We also look at case studies in small groups and support the students to understand that it is important to bring out peoples’ own coping strategies that they themselves choose and for nurses not to dictate what they, as nurses, think the person should adopt. Students are shown how coping strategies are an important part of recovery.

Hearing Voices/Delusions

The facilitators encourage the students to feel comfortable and also confident about communicating with people who hear voices and/or people who are experiencing delusions. Students are shown a film made by one of the facilitators of other people’s experiences of hearing voices and this allows the students to see a range of perspectives, both positive and negative about hearing voices. In small groups the students look at what is helpful for people who hear voices and/or delusions through scenarios. Students are also made aware of how self-help groups can be very important and beneficial.

Alcohol/Substance misuse and hostel living

We look at the idea that home is a crucial part of someone’s well being and students learn that alcohol and substance misuse is a coping strategy for mental distress. The facilitators draw on their own experiences to illustrate how their personal boundaries change when they choose to use alcohol and substances and how living in hostels can cause further difficulties. The facilitators help the students become aware of barriers for them as nurses and highlight that some of the people that will access their services will have been homeless for a very long period of time and the facilitators demonstrate with personal experience how the students must still see the potential for a full recovery.

POTNOT (Professionals on Tap not on Top!)

In this session we have adapted a model that is used to explain abusive relationships to illustrate the dynamics of the current mental health system. We show how the present system, together with discrimination in society, effects our emotions, feelings, physical space, body, daily life and relationships. The facilitators illustrate how we are affected in hospital and community services and we examine the impact of POWER gained by CONTROL over our lives and how CHOICE is taken away. Then in small groups, we focus on what is good practice, using illustrations from real life, and support the nurses to understand how they can make a difference to people’s lives despite the power and control exerted by the system.

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Making Waves Timetable of PINE Sessions

Red = cohort 1 Blue = cohort 2 Black= Masters cohort

September / October / November / December / January / February
Diploma / BSc / Year 2 / Recovery
Diagnose This! / Strategies for Survival / Recovery
Year 3 / Alcohol/Substance misuse and Hostel Living / POTNOT / Alcohol/ Substance Misuse and Hostel Living
MNurSci / Year 2 / Diagnose This!
Year 3
Year 4 / Alcohol/Substance misuse and Hostel Living

Making Waves Timetable of PINE Sessions (continued)

Red = cohort 1 Blue = cohort 2

March / April / May / June / July / August
Diploma / BSc / Year 2 / Hearing Voices/Delusions
Strategies for Survival
Diagnose This! / Hearing Voices/Delusions
Year 3 / POTNOT
MNurSci / Year 2 / Strategies for Survival / Recovery
Year 3 / Hearing Voices/Delusions
Year 4 / POTNOT

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Guidelines for teaching the PINE sessions
  1. All people who prepare and deliver sessions are entitled to be paid for their time. PINE sessions are 2 hours long and as it is recognised that people will need additional time to prepare, debriefing and travel. They will be given the amount of £40. This covers preparation time as well as delivery and travel time. People are responsible for filling in timesheets and sending them to the office, if people are in receipt of benefits it is their responsibility to inform the benefits office and/or any other agency they work for. Please refer to the payment agreement at Making Waves.
  1. Unfortunately, if someone cannot deliver a session for any reason on the day, Making Waves cannot still pay for the session. This is due to not being able to charge for sessions cancelled due to illness.
  1. If a Making Waves tutor is unable to attend a teaching session at short notice they must make sure they speak to a member of the teaching staff at the School of Nursing. There are information sheets available with contact details including mobiles for the tutors that we deliver sessions for (an example is shown in the practical information section page 16).
  1. Making Waves members will not be expected to deliver a session on their own. If your co-facilitator cancels, for whatever reason, you will not be under any obligation to do the session and it will be cancelled. However if you feel like you would still like to deliver the session, you may do so but the tutor who booked you must also be present. Tutors at the University will make sure they are present in the building at the time of the session so that they can do this if a person opts to deliver on their own. If a person does deliver on their own they will receive fee of £60 rather than £40 to acknowledge the extra effort that this requires.
  1. Making Waves will try not to ask you to do any sessions with less than four weeks notice. We will aim to give you 6-8 weeks prior notice when possible. This is in order not to put people under too much pressure and to give them a chance to prepare. Making Waves tutors will be responsible for arranging preparation sessions with their co-facilitator to get ready for the session. All tutors will receive a booking form in the post, to confirm the details of the session they are booked to deliver.
  1. University Tutors need to contact the Making Waves Teaching Co-ordinator at least two months in advance of the session date. For all sessions that they request they will receive a booking confirmation of the session.
  1. Any person delivering teaching for Making Waves has the right to say they don’t want to deliver a session with a particular person. Refusal of the offer of a session will be treated in confidence as far as possible.
  1. Making Waves Teaching Co-ordinator is responsible for letting the University tutors know who to meet for the session. The University tutors will meet the Making Waves tutors fifteen minutes before the session starts in the Café Art so that they can get to the room in time to set up.
  1. The University/School tutor will introduce you to the students but will not attend the session unless requested to be present.
  1. When you deliver the teaching session if there is anyone present in the group of students that you know in another capacity it is important that you think about any implications that this may cause to yourself or your co-facilitator. Especially in terms of what you may wish to disclose in the session. Let your co-facilitator know if this is going to cause you any difficulties during the session so that they can be aware of the situation and respond appropriately and offer support if needed. If you feel able to do so you can acknowledge the worker perhaps by approaching them in the break. You may also acknowledge this issue when doing the ground rules at the start of the session or bring it into the session without putting anyone in the spotlight.
  1. Debriefing after teaching is better if you can do it with your co-facilitator immediately after the session. If this is not possible try and do it within a week, either face to face or on the phone. The teaching co-ordinator will also check in with you about how the session went, as soon as they can, within the 48 hours after you have delivered the teaching.
  1. Any concerns about the behaviour, both verbal and non-verbal, of the students must be fed back to the teaching co-ordinator. If it can be appropriately addressed in the session, that is positive, but if they persist in unprofessional behaviour then it is important to inform the teaching coordinator and the University tutor who booked it. Students have a strict code of conduct that they have to adhere to. This includes respect to be shown to visiting lecturers and to people who receive services from them.
  1. Anyone who has concerns about any safeguarding issues can feel confident to approach the Making Waves Teaching Co-ordinator who will address them, inline with Making Waves safeguarding policy. Any issue that puts anyone within or outside the organisation at any risk of harm will have to be taken further. This may mean addressing the complaint with the University or with the person it relates to and having to break confidentiality. This may include a concern about d

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  1. practice that is disclosed by the nurses attending the teaching that they have witnessed.
  1. The Making Waves Teaching co-ordinator will arrange an Away day with tutors from both the University of Nottingham and Making Waves. This is so everyone involved in the teaching can discuss any issues, both positive and negative, as well as a chance to get together in one place and work on aspects of the PINE project. Anyone delivering teaching with Making Waves will be expected to attend this Away day and to inform the teaching co-ordinator in advance if they cannot. The Away day will be paid at £66 and there will also be travel expenses and refreshments.
  1. Peer support sessions will be run at least eight times over the year and they will be 3 hours long. These will be a chance for people to exchange experiences about the teaching, share skills and take part in practical workshops. These will be paid at £20 per session.
  1. If anyone has to miss a peer support session or the Away Day then they will be expected to catch up with the content of the meeting on a one to one with the teaching co-ordinator. This will be the same pay, pro-rata, as the meeting.
Supporting documents

Here are the documents that you will need to deliver the teaching for Making Waves: