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Improving the ability of mental health nurses to give second opinion in Judicial Reviews: an evaluation study
Author(s) -
MCKENNA B. G.,
O'BRIEN A. J.,
O'SHEA M.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01703.x
Subject(s) - mental health , thematic analysis , legislation , nursing , experiential learning , test (biology) , psychology , intervention (counseling) , medical education , medicine , qualitative research , political science , pedagogy , psychiatry , law , social science , paleontology , sociology , biology
Accessible summary• A tragic event in New Zealand involving a young man who killed his father highlighted the need to improve the situation when people are admitted into hospital for compulsory care under mental health legislation. An inquiry found that improvements needed to occur in the way that health professionals (mostly registered mental health nurses) assisted the judge in making a decision that someone should be under the legislation. • The researchers, with the help of clinical, cultural and service user expertise, developed a teaching programme to assist with improvements. This programme used a video clip and a role play of a mock court hearing, to help the nurses feel more confident and more able to give a second opinion to assist the judge at a hearing. It also used adult learning principles, which involved open and valued discussion of nurses' opinions and experiences. • We tested the health professionals' feelings about being able to effectively undertake the role before the teaching, after the teaching and when they next undertook the role of giving a second opinion at a hearing. We found substantial improvements following the education programme, although there was room for further improvement. This was a small study in two of New Zealand's 21 District Health Boards, but the evidence suggests other nurses could benefit from this programme. There is a need to deliver the programme nationally, so that more mental health nurses can better assist in judicial decisions, which affect the lives of service users.Abstract In New Zealand, concern has been expressed regarding the variable quality of second opinions given by health professionals assisting judicial decisions on the use of compulsory assessment and treatment under mental health legislation. This second opinion is mostly given by registered mental health nurses. An innovative education programme based on experiential learning and adult learning principles was developed to assist health professionals to effectively undertake this role. A mixed method pre–post test intervention research design was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme in assisting health professionals to feel more competent in undertaking the role. Data from the participants ( n = 112) was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis and a thematic analysis of open‐ended questions. The findings suggested gains in all competencies following the education programme, although there was room for further improvement. These changes were sustained over time at the next occasion when the health professionals undertook the role. There is a need to nationally disseminate such educational innovations to assist more mental health nurses to maximize their input into judicial decisions, which have a marked impact on the lives of those service users involved.