Negotiating the boundaries: the experience of the mental health nurse at the interface with the criminal justice system.
Community mental health nurses working within the criminal justice system undertake an important function with regard to the strategic intent that wherever possible, mentally disordered persons should receive care and treatment from health and social services. Their precise role, and the particular function of court diversion/assessment schemes, is still being defined. This takes place within a broader context of reorientation of mental health nursing within the move to community care and exposure to the complexity of multidisciplinary working. Examining the experience of mental health nurses in court diversion schemes reveals the intensity of the experience of working in an inter-professional setting without the benefit of preparation or training, and without the frame of reference of a structured health environment. Adaptation of the language of mental health nursing was necessary to effect mutual understanding with other professional groups, and there was a recognition that the competences needed to operate in this environment had not previously been identified as part of their skills base. The result was to bring into question their professional practice and identity as mental health nurses. The handling of patient information in the context of an inter-professional setting remains an issue requiring clarification.