Implicações do ser docente de saúde mental para a formação dos futuros enfermeiros

Teaching mental health nursing has an important role in the training of future nurses, mainly in the development of a critical and reflective professional profile to perform specific skills for caring for people in psychological distress. This study aimed to understand the implications of being a mental health teacher in the process of training future nurses. This is a qualitative research, carried out with nine professors of mental health disciplines from undergraduate nursing courses at six different higher education institutions. Data production took place through semi-structured online interviews, using a script and applying the Content Analysis technique, using the assumptions of the National Mental Health Policy as a theoretical lens. The findings of this study indicate that being a mental health teacher implies developing a training process focusing on substitutive and community-based services and raising awareness about the practice of self-care, in addition to the fight for curricular space to strengthen this field of knowledge. The implications presented reveal the commitment of teachers to training based on Psychiatric Reform. Furthermore, this study contributes to the literature that supports political decision-making in education, with a focus on the qualification of nurses for mental health.