In September 2006, NALNECT organised the First National ECT Nurse Training Conference, which took place in Hull. Deemed a successful event, over 100 hundred delegates attended. The importance and benefits of becoming a member of one of the regional ECT nurse special interest groups was emphasised. Most of these S.I.G.s meet quarterly and provide specialist peer group supervision, unavailable elsewhere. ECT, despite its now proven effectiveness in the treatment of severe depression, remains surrounded in controversy. Therefore, mental health nurses working in this field can feel quite isolated, even from their colleagues in psychiatry. Networking provides an opportunity to compare practice, express anxieties and frustrations. Problem solving, presentations, creating documents that are of use in practice, are just some of the many activities that take place at these meetings.

NALNECT wishes to encourage more mental health ECT nurses to join their local ECT nurse special interest group.