Mental health learning needs assessment: competency-based instrument for best practice.

A learning needs assessment focused on psychiatric/mental health nursing competency development is a central component of nursing education in specialty mental health nursing practice. The provision of education for mental health nursing relies on the underlying assumption that the learning needs of experienced mental health nurses have been assessed and educational programs implemented to address educational needs for competency in professional practice. Few professional learning needs assessments have been developed to identify learning needs in mental health nursing practice. The majority of available professional learning needs assessments focus on medical nursing practice applications rather than the psychosocial aspects of a mental health assessment. The mental health field addresses very different assessment criteria such as knowledge of suicide assessment and therapeutic interventions. The purpose of this article is to present and describe the process of developing a learning needs assessment focused on competency development for the specialty practice of mental health nursing that addresses and resolves complex learning needs.