Close to 500 people have signed the petition to have the the skills and specialty status of mental health nurses recognised by policy makers, to enable equity with other health professionals, and enable service users to access subsidised services through the MBS.

Highly qualified, experienced, and competent Mental Health Nurses have long provided expert psychotherapeutic services and adapted psychotherapeutic practices to those across the spectrum of mental health problems. In particular, they have repeatedly demonstrated successful outcomes working with people at the serious end of this spectrum.

To their own detriment, Mental Health Nurses have done this quietly, being expert in playing the age-old  "doctor nurse game" whereby they have rarely claimed, and few but their patients (and immediate colleagues) have seen or acknowledged the quite exceptional outcomes achieved. Policy makers and bureaucrats in Australia have taken upon themselves to define the role of the Mental Health Nurse as being little more than a "doctor's helper". They have demonstrated little regard or interest in the reality of practice, the academically sound evidence, outcomes which have been demonstrated, or the impact of this re-definition of Mental Health Nursing on patients or the nurses themselves. The fallacious view of Mental Health Nurses has been perpetuated as fact. This is not OK! The dwindling numbers of Mental Health Nurses who still remain in primary care and their patients are suffering as a consequence. Mental Health Nurses, regardless of expertise or experience have been locked out of serving the public as they have done quietly and as they should in the future.

Please continue to promote this campaign in the hope that numbers might count in changing policy and enabling Mental Health Nurses to continue to contribute to the mental health of the nation.