As a mental health nurse, I assure you we do the best we can

I am writing in response to the article “Panic, isolation and a fear of being punished” (7-8/12) where “Billie” wrote about her experience as a patient in the public mental health system. I empathise with her experience and I am sorry for the trauma she went through. Although I can’t comment on the way she was treated, I wish to clarify some things that occur in a mental health ward.

Speaking from the perspective of a mental health nurse who has worked in a public hospital since 2009, I wish to reassure readers that in many hospitals, certainly in mine, we do not use punishment towards our patients.

Since Victoria’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 came into being we are very conscious of using the least restrictive practices and have more responsive and compassionate care for our patients to support the dignity and autonomy of people living with mental illness.

Seclusion is used only as a last resort, when the patient does not respond to engagement, or to medications, or when the staff or other patients are deemed to be at risk of further assault by the patient.

Our security guards are only on standby in case violence to staff and other patients occurs. In my ward we use female staff whenever possible to explain procedures or give injections with as little restraint as possible.

Our seclusion rooms have toilets, and in the past when there were no toilets papier-mache bedpans or urinals were put in the rooms and not metal ones, in case they were used for self-harm or, indeed, as a missile to hurt staff with. Patient property that is removed usually includes only those items that are deemed risky, that could be used for self-harm or to hurt other people with.

We make sure our patients understand why they are sectioned and why they are admitted under the Mental Health Act and ensure they have a copy of the legislation and their rights explained to them. We also have staff with experience or peer support workers to engage with patients when necessary.

I agree that the mental health system has many shortcomings but, at the end of the day, mental health nurses and doctors are only doing what they can with a reduced number of clinicians and beds. No one hears about the assaults to our staff: being spat at, being lunged at and being punched, being threatened. (I have had colleagues with a broken jaw and a broken leg, all occurring while they were on duty.)

The days of straitjackets, asylums and chained patients are long gone, and certainly we could still do better to improve care and outcomes, but please do not shoot the messenger.

Pauline Watson, clinical nurse consultant (drug and alcohol)/registered psychiatric nurse, Flemington, Vic

Gaps in the maths

The latest iteration of CSIRO’s GenCost report still contains fundamental flaws in its methodologies (“Costs cloud Dutton’s nuke plan”, 9/12). The report is totally silent on the $20bn of dedicated high-voltage transmission lines, called Rewiring the Nation, that will be used to bring wind and solar power from regional areas into our load centres, our cities and industries. These lines will carry electricity only 30 per cent of the time, the same time spans the weather gods are delivering.

What a waste of physical and financial resources. Renewables are useless without these lines. In contrast, nuclear power could be built on the sites of existing thermal power plants and could be plugged straight in the network.

Once again, the tables are being tilted in GenCost, boosting renewables at the expense of nuclear.

David Hurburgh, Opossum Bay, Tas

It’s tough for Australian families who are struggling with cost-of-living pressures. On top of mortgage repayments and rental costs, higher insurance costs due to worsening natural disasters are driving up inflation. Oil and gas prices are volatile, affected by wars and overseas markets. The high cost of gas over the past three years has caused a spike in energy bills. In Victoria, the cost of gas heating has risen by several hundred dollars since 2020. The rise in petrol prices is putting an added burden on the weekly budget. Research shows that climate change and the cost of living are the two most pressing issues for many Australians. We don’t need to foot the bill for expensive nuclear generation when renewables are a cheaper and more readily available solution.

Anne O’Hara, Wanniassa, ACT

Pandora’s box

Janet Albrechtsen is spot-on with concerns about automatically believing rape/sexual abuse claimants (“Sexual assault trials spark revolt in the ACT”, 9/12). The details, or absence thereof, in these dreadful cases remain, almost always, with just two people, and to hand one a bigger claim to authenticity would be a Pandora’s box, not only opened but tied up with a ribbon. A sympathetic judge and a teary claimant have it all over a defendant.

Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield, NSW