title: It's a long way from the office to the creek bed: remote area mental health nursing in Australia.
abstract: Mental health nursing in remote Australian Aboriginal communities provides opportunities and challenges unique from other experiences of nursing. The purpose of this article was to explore how mental health nurses experience working in remote communities and how they developed relevant knowledge and skills. Six remote area mental health nurses participated in audiotaped conversational style interviews. Narratives were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Themes identified were being focused on relationships, adapting to the culture, struggling with two contexts, being enraptured by place, and being transformed. The participants adapted and developed ways of working at the interface of another culture and also derived personal and professional benefit from the experience.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Western Sydney, and Sydney West Area Health Service.
authors.forename: Louise M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000451:nursing; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014195:Travel; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology