News:

There have been some changes to the list recently. Listownership is now shared between Fiona Ramsay, Denis Ryan, Tom Ryan and Len Bowers, and the list 'rules' for appropriate conduct have been reformulated and can be found here.

Also, in celebration of Tom Keen's recent seminar at City University, edited highlights of his posts to the list over the past few years can be found here.

An additional list for those psychiatric nurses specialising in the care of older people has been founded under the leadership of Gary Blatch. Further details can be found here.

Ben Davidson is leading a new initiative in the provision of supervision online. Details can be found here.

I started the list in 1994 to bring psychiatric nurses round the world together. The internet was new to me at that time, and I wanted to find a way to exploit it for the benefit of psychiatric nurses and those for whom they care. At the time I had no idea what an enormous success the list was going to be. Membership grew rapidly following the creation of the list, and as I write it stands at 750 psychiatric nurses worldwide. The membership encompasses practitioners, teachers, researchers, service managers and many others.

Over the years the list has touched many lives. All sorts of friendships, collaborations and sharing have started via the contacts that have been made on the list. These days it is hard to go to any psychiatric nursing conference without meeting others who are members of the list. It's a strange feeling to meet people in real life for the first time, after having established working relationships with them online.

Most of all, the quality of the list discussions is a tribute to its members. I have learnt such an enormous amount from reading others posts. When I have dared to contribute to the discussion, I have benefited from having my ideas challenged and scrutinized by others.

Interacting with those in other countries has given me a whole new perspective on many of the problems we face as psychiatric nurses. The list more than rewards the work I put in to keeping it going. It's fun, stimulating, and the members are a friendly crew to spend time with.

• The joining and unsubscribing pages are self-explanatory -- they explain how to do just that. Details about membership options may also be found on the joining page.

• If you are new to the list, you may like to read the newbie hints for a word or two of encouragement and information.

• The good manners page explains the list norms and rules as they stand at present, plus the basics of e mail list etiquette.

• One of the things that frequently intrigues list members is: who are those psychiatric nurses whose posts I'm reading and admiring? The 'who are they' page will allow list members to submit brief biographies of themselves which can be viewed by others.

• Some of the list discussions have been so good, I have preserved them here under the title classic threads. Have a look here and see if you agree with me.

• I know the list is highly valued by many of its members, past and present. What some of them have had to say about it can be read here.

• There have been a number of publications either entirely or partly about the list, and you can find references to them here.

• I have produced a flyer that advertises the list. Please feel free to print this out, duplicate it, and take it to conferences and other events.

• A videoconferencing web page has been provided by Groupintervisual. This unique development will enhance the networking and sharing experience provided to list members. Please click on the graphic below, or use the button from the menu on the left, to discover how to participate.