Simulation to practice: developing nursing skills in mental health: an Australian perspective

A variety of developments in nursing education in Australia including some innovative and exciting models, educational enterprises between education and industry, and evidence of developing strengths in research and professional alliances on a national level have been discussed recently. This paper presents Simulation to Practice as an example of an educational program that can maximise skill mastery for nurses in mental health fields as practised by Deakin University in Victoria, Australia. The program is multimodal and is under-pinned by a problem-solving approach and has an online presentation. The extension of nursing skills through this approach encourages nurses to take theoretical skills to practice during these scenarios which help student nurses to gain experience through simulated real life characters. These sessions, while challenging at the time, were highly valued by students and seen as a beneficial part of their learning as a beginning nurse and often instrumental in moving comprehensively trained students into mental health careers.