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Should we or shouldn't we? Mental health nurses' views on physical health care of mental health consumers
Author(s) -
Happell Brenda,
Scott David,
PlataniaPhung Chris,
Nankivell Janette
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.911
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1447-0349
pISSN - 1445-8330
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0349.2011.00799.x
Subject(s) - mental health , nursing , qualitative research , exploratory research , health care , medicine , focus group , mental health law , population , psychology , perception , psychiatry , environmental health , social science , business , marketing , neuroscience , sociology , anthropology , economics , economic growth
People diagnosed with a mental illness experience poorer physical health than the general population. Nurses have been identified for their potential role in addressing physical health needs of consumers of mental health services. This paper reports on preliminary findings of a qualitative study on health‐care services for physical and mental health in a regional area in Australia. A key purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions of nurses working in mental health settings of their physical care with consumers. A qualitative, exploratory approach was undertaken. Semi‐structured focus groups were conducted with 38 nurses from one mental health service. Nurse participants described a common co‐occurrence of physical problems and mental illness and expressed the importance of health‐care services to treatment and prevention. Participants expressed divergent views on nurses' capacity to contribute to better health‐care processes.