to be published

Consumer and carer participation in mental health delivery is now enshrined in Australian Government policy. However, strategies assisting in implement-ing this vision have not been explored. Nurses are crucial to the mental health workforce, both in numbers and by virtue of the therapeutic relation-ship. The willingness of nurses to encourage con-sumer and carer participation is therefore essential for implementation of this policy. This article pres-ents part 1 of the findings of a qualitative study exploring nurses ’ opinions regarding consumer and carer participation. Data were analyzed using a content-analysis approach, assisted by the software package NVivo. The themes explicated were as fol-lows: Consumer and carer participation—a help or a hindrance? Encouragement—an important role for nurses; and communication—a gift of nursing. These findings highlight the unique and important role nurses can play in encouraging participation and explore some of the issues involved if that role is to become a reality