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HoNOS: is there any point in training clinicians?
Author(s) -
Rock D.,
Preston N.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2850.2001.00410.x
Subject(s) - vignette , mental health , reliability (semiconductor) , rating scale , medicine , psychology , significant difference , clinical psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , developmental psychology , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
This study examines the impact of training and clinical experience on the inter‐rater reliability of the HoNOS. Following either standard or modified HoNOS training, two groups of registered mental health nurses (RMHNs) were tested for inter‐rater reliability (IRR) using a standard case vignette. In addition, another group of nurses and two nonclinical comparison groups had their IRR tested using the same vignette but without receiving any HoNOS training. There was no significant difference between IRR scores post‐training compared with the pre‐training scores. This is the case whether the recommended or modified training programmes were used. In addition, there is no significant difference between nurses and the comparison group, characterized by nonclinical work experience in a mental health setting. All four groups achieved adequate IRR. Finally, the comparison group with no regular exposure to mental health patients but experience using rating scales are significantly less reliable than the other four groups. The results suggest two possible interpretations. The first is that the HoNOS scales are so well designed that only familiarity with psychiatric patients and no experience with rating scales is sufficient to achieve adequate IRR even without training. Alternatively, the use of written vignettes does not provide a valid measure of HoNOS IRR.