Welcome to the Consultation Liaison Special Interest Group

The primary purpose of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Consultation Liaison (CL) Special Interest Group (SIG) is to promote interest in and the development of CL nursing.

The CLSIG provides members of The College who have a particular interest in CL with a forum for exchanging news, views and ideas in this evolving and emerging sub-speciality in mental health nursing.

The CLSIG promotes research endeavours and other matters of interest in CL by sponsoring an annual conference and via other means such as meetings or workshops that are considered timely and worthwhile. The CLSIG operates within the framework of The College's general guidelines for SIGs.

What does a CL mental health nurse do?

Broadly, a CL nurse focuses on the mental health care of people in non-psychiatric (generalist) settings, most commonly but not exclusively, in general hospital wards, emergency departments, and nursing homes. The CL nurse aims to improve outcomes in patient care from a mental health perspective through working directly with patients and indirectly through increasing the capacity of staff to recognise and attend to the mental health needs of patients in these settings.

The CL nurse:

• works with patients and their relatives providing expert mental health assessment and intervention;
• provides guidance, education and support to generalist staff caring for the patient and collaborates with them in developing a plan of care;
• acts as a positive role model to generalist staff in psychiatric - mental health care and practice;
• works with the organisation or department as a mental health resource on mental health related projects, education and policy development; and
• acts as a link between generalist and mental health services (public and private, hospital and community).

Communication