title: Authenticity, creativity and a love of the job: experiences of grassroots leaders of mental health nursing in queensland.
abstract: The strength of mental health nursing and its potential contribution to improved consumer outcomes depends upon strong and clearly articulated leadership. However, studies of leadership have tended to focus on nurses holding senior positions rather than exploring the leadership embedded in clinical work. A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken with identified mental health nurse leaders in one Australian state, in order to explore their experiences and what they found to be most meaningful in their work. This article reports the findings from this study. The data was analysed thematically to yield insights significant to mental health nursing and identity. The findings suggest these leaders find intrinsic rewards in the role; aspire to making authentic connections with consumers; appreciate the position of trust that they hold in bearing witness to individuals' distress; and use creative means to solve problems and achieve therapeutic outcomes. Sharing these themes builds knowledge on values that are embedded in mental health nursing practice and offers scope for integrating leadership attributes into the education, supervision and development of all mental health nurses. These findings also reveal the complexity of mental health nursing as a profession and the difficulties that might be encountered in attempts to define it in terms of its component tasks and functions.
authors.affiliation: Central Queensland University, Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Centre for Mental Health Nursing Innovation and School of Nursing and Midwifery, Noosa, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Happell
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D002648:Child; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000451:nursing; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009742:Nursing Theory; D011340:Problem Solving; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000451:nursing; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011793:Queensland; D016896:Treatment Outcome