title: Email etiquette: guidelines for mental health nurses.
abstract: This note is about the use of email and its role in mental health settings. We anticipate that it may be of assistance to mental health nurses unfamiliar with the benefits and pitfalls of email and wanting to learn more about how to use it professionally and effectively. In mental health nursing, we pride ourselves on our interpersonal skills and being able to communicate. However, transferring these skills to an electronic medium is not always easy. Because many of us are self-taught, there is potential for email to be a hindrance rather than a help in the quest for good collegial relationships. In this note, we discuss some of the common situations that can arise when email use goes awry and provide some helpful tips for getting the most out of email. It is hoped that the information and checklist provided in this paper will strike a chord with many, encouraging discussion and promoting appropriate use of this form of communication.
authors.affiliation: Central Sydney Area Mental Health Service, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cleary
authors.forename: Adele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D034742:Electronic Mail; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing