Nurses working with children and adolescents fear the low profile of their work may mean less experienced workers are used in their place. Mardi Chapman reports.

Despite recent and significant expansion of mental health initiatives such as headspace centres, there is some concern that child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) nursing is at risk of losing its identity. A research article in the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing earlier this year briefly explored the proposition that the role of CAMH nurses needs to be better defined. It suggests CAMH nursing may suffer from "limited visibility" and that "unless nurses were able to clearly articulate and identify the specific contribution they made, there is a danger of the role being...