Alicante Nurses Call for Enhanced Role in Mental Health Care

On the occasion of International Mental Health Nursing Day (September 1st), the Alicante College of Nursing has called for an increase in the number of professionals in this field, as well as for enhancing their profile and competencies.

According to the professional association, many sectors have identified the emergence of a new pandemic following the Covid-19 crisis: the mental health pandemic. In light of this, they believe that mental health care resources "must be increased for all age groups," highlighting "alarming" data such as the near quadrupling of incidents of suicide and self-harm among students in the region over the past three years.

The College of Nursing notes that the region is one of the three autonomous communities with the lowest allocation of mental health care resources, the third lowest in specialist training per capita, and has the lowest average number of schoolchildren participating in prevention programs per educational center—ten times below the national average.

Furthermore, it records the highest prevalence of mental disorders at 25.1%, according to data from the Ministry of Health, with the risk of poor mental health reaching 42.3% among women and 11% among children under 15 years old.

Among the College's demands is the progressive conversion (following retirements, transfers, etc.) of generalist nursing positions in Mental Health Units into specialist nursing positions focused on this type of care.

They also call for coherent and adequate planning of the Specialized Health Training offer for Mental Health Nursing, "considering the new and greater needs existing in this healthcare sector."