Nursing assessment of mental health issues in the general clinical environment: A descriptive study.
Irene Ngune, Beverley Ewens, Sharlene Bell and 4 others
PMID 38738987WHAT IT FOUND
In four general hospital wards, nurses screened 293 of 397 patients for mental health concerns; 20 were identified.
Only 9 were referred, and past psychiatric or trauma histories were often missed.
Key findings
01Nurses screened 293 of 397 patient records for mental health concerns.
02Among screened patients, 20 (6.8%) had a mental health concern identified, but only 9 (45%) were referred.
03Only 20% of patients with identified mental health concerns were assessed for risk factors such as past psychiatric history, trauma, or history of violence and aggression.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a descriptive study at a single hospital, so it does not compare the form with usual care or measure patient outcomes. The mental health assessment form was developed locally and checked only for face validity by mental health nurses; other psychometric testing was not completed. The nurse survey had a 11% response rate, so the confidence findings may not represent all nurses in the wards. Only 20 patients were identified with mental health concerns, which is too small for firm conclusions about this group. The reasons for 30% of forms not being completed were unclear, and the reasons why 11 identified patients were not referred were not explored. Patients with dementia were not assessed using the form, and the form was not adapted for different cultural contexts.
Declared interests
The research received no specific grant from any funding agency, and the authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 6.8% identification rate as proof the form improves patient outcomes. It is the proportion among the 293 screened records, not all admitted patients, and only 9 of 20 identified patients were referred.