Psychiatric nursing: has it been forgotten in contemporary nursing education?

Contemporary nursing education in Victoria, Australia aims to produce graduates with the capacity for employment in all areas of nursing at beginning practitioner level. Despite this aim, psychiatric nursing occupies a relatively small proportion of undergraduate curricula. Research findings suggest that psychiatric nursing does not emerge as a popular career choice within comprehensive education. To prevent a crisis in nursing education, greater attention must be devoted to the theory and practice of psychiatric nursing, so that it can occupy a position of equal importance to other areas of nursing practice.