Annual Report 2004-2005 - Forensicare

Professional Education
Strategic objectives
• Provide professional education and
training to Forensicare staff to further
enhance their specialist skills, expertise
and knowledge.
• Continue to develop a learning
environment for Forensicare staff to
promote critical thinking and
innovation.
• Enhance the responsiveness of
teaching institutions, service providers
and agencies to the needs of forensic
mental health patients and clients.
• Promote and develop the specialist
skills and knowledge of practitioners
and professionals in the forensic
mental health area.
The challenges
• Making education and training
opportunities for staff at Forensicare
and area mental health services
accessible and relevant
• Establish a learning culture that values
education and training as a core
element of professional practice and
accountability.
How we plan to succeed in 2005-2006
• Provide specialised training to rural
and metropolitan area mental health
services and other services/agencies.
• Promote a better understanding of
forensic mental health within the legal
and criminal justice sectors.
PROFILE
The Professional Education program –
• operates to identify and facilitate best
practice within Forensicare, promote
knowledge and expertise in forensic
mental health and enhance
responsiveness to the needs of mental
health clients who are offenders and/or
present with challenging behaviours.
• provides professional education and
training on forensic mental health
issues to Forensicare staff, area mental
health services, other relevant
practitioners and teaching institutions.
• incorporates activities appropriate to all
disciplines within Forensicare.
KEY OUTCOMES
FORENSIC TRAINING TO
AREA MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICES
The final training sessions on ‘Risk
Assessment and Management’ were provided
for area mental health services in both
metropolitan and rural areas during July –
December 2004. This completed the 18
sessions funded by the Department of
Human Services in 2003.
A total of 24 training sessions was provided
to area mental health services in 2004-2005
(an increase from the 22 sessions provided
in 2003-2004). This included quarterly daylong
training sessions, four sessions
developed and presented with SPECTRUM
(the statewide personality disorder service)
on ‘Violence and Mental Disorder’ for area
mental health services staff working with
clients with personality disorders, a one day
workshop for area mental health nurses who
have patients who are offenders and a half
day workshop on ‘Risk Assessment’, together
with shorter training sessions directed at
specific forensic issues.
CLINICAL PLACEMENTS
Providing placement opportunities to
students is an important component of our
professional education program and student
placements at Forensicare continue to be
highly sought. During 2004-2005, 212
student placements were provided across
the organisation in all clinical disciplines –
social work, occupational therapy,
psychology, nursing and psychiatry. The
number of placements provided has
decreased slightly over the past two years,
as the practice of having 5th year medical
students on placement at Forensicare has
been discontinued due to new learning
requirements introduced by the two
teaching universities.
STUDENT PLACEMENTS PROVIDED
BY FORENSICARE
240
230
220
210
200
212
215
2004-2005 2003-2004 2002-2003
*reduction in total number of placements due to
cessation of placements by 5th year medical students.
GRADUATE AND
POSTGRADUATE NURSE
PROGRAM
The Graduate Nurse Program, a one year
program that incorporates studies leading
to a Graduate Certificate in Mental Health
Nursing, was again offered by Forensicare
in 2004-2005. Co-ordinated by the
Clinical Nurse Educator, the program had 9
graduate nurse participants in 2004-2005.
A Postgraduate Nurse Program (for nurses
with a minimum of 3 years postgraduate
experience in another field) was also
offered, but was unable to run as no
applications were received that met the
stringent participation criteria.
Advice has been received from The Nurses
Board of Victoria that a Graduate Certificate
in Mental Health Nursing will no longer be
endorsed by the Board from January 2006.
As a result, the existing Graduate and
Postgraduate Nurse Programs were
reviewed, and from 2006 Forensicare
will only offer a Post Graduate Diploma
in Mental Health Nursing.
GRADUATE PROGRAM –
ALLIED HEALTH
236
The Department of Human Services
provided funding of $91,273 in 2003-
2004 to enable Forensicare to expand the
Graduate Program to include allied health.
The first Allied Health Graduate Program,
open to new graduates undertaking
relevant postgraduate research, was
introduced for social workers. The program,
which attracted twelve applications from
social workers in 2004, is open to new
graduates who are undertaking relevant
postgraduate research. Initially a twelve
month program, the graduate program was
extended to two years from 2005, and a
new social worker appointed to the
program from that time.
25