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Mental health diagnosis by nurses using the Global Mental Health Assessment Tool: a validity and feasibility study
- Authors:
- SHARMA Vimal K., et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of General Practice, 58(551), June 2008, pp.411-416.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of General Practitioners
The Global Mental Health Assessment Tool - Primary Care Version (GMHAT/PC) has been developed to assist health professionals to make a quick and comprehensive standardised mental health assessment. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using a computer-assisted diagnostic interview by nurses and to examine the level of agreement between the GMHAT/PC diagnosis and psychiatrists' clinical diagnosis. A total of 215 patients between the ages of 16 and 75 years were assessed by nurses and psychiatrists in various settings in England and Wales: 54 in a primary care centre, 98 in a cardiac rehabilitation centre, and 63 in a community mental health clinic. The time taken for the interview, and feedback from patients and interviewers were indicators of feasibility, and the kappa coefficient, sensitivity, and specificity of the GMHAT/PC diagnosis were measures of validity. Mean duration of interview was under 15 minutes. The agreement between nurses' GMHAT/PC interview-based diagnosis and psychiatrists' International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria-based clinical diagnosis was 80% It is concluded that the GMHAT/PC can assist nurses to make accurate mental health assessment and diagnosis in various healthcare settings and it is acceptable to patients.
Developing a mental health triage service in primary care
- Author:
- SAWYER Simon
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 4.12.07, 2007, pp.28-29.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
This article describes the development of a mental health triage service that was rolled out across Gloucestershire between June 2004 and January 2007. The service was provided directly to clients with common mental health problems. The article focuses on the first cluster of GP surgeries to be covered in the Cheltenham. It outlines the success in improving access to service users to appropriate and timely assessment as well as reducing referrals from GPs to specialist mental health services.
Risk management in mental health
- Author:
- PRATT David
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 21.6.01, 2001, pp.37-38.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
Risk assessment has been forced to the top of the mental health service agenda. Explores the ethical and clinical dilemmas this recent development poses for nurses.
Boxed in
- Author:
- GEORGE Steve
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 14.7.99, 1999, pp.32-33.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
Mental health nurses are well placed to assess a client's need for hospital admission yet this remains the province of social workers. The author argues it is time for change.
Improving the physical health of people with mental health problems: actions for mental health nurses
- Authors:
- GREAT BRITAIN. Department of Health, PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND, NHS ENGLAND
- Publishers:
- Great Britain. Department of Health, Public Health England, NHS England
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 61
- Place of publication:
- London
Drawing the available evidence, this resource provides practice advice to help mental health nurses to improve the physical health and wellbeing of people living with mental health problems. It builds on work to ensure parity of esteem between mental and physical health by giving equal attention to the physical health of people with mental health problems as is given to the general population, thus reducing health inequalities. The document focuses on how to deal with some of the main risk factors for physical health problems. It focuses on eight key areas for action: smoking, obesity, improving levels of physical activities, alcohol and substance misuse, sexual and reproductive health, medicine optimisation, dental and oral health, and reducing falls. Each area discussed incIudes information on why mental health nurses need to take action, activities to achieve change, examples of good practice and a review of the evidence base for practice. The publication is relevant for mental health nurses working both in inpatient settings and in the community and focuses on adults with mental health problems. (Edited publisher abstract)
Assessing and managing depression in older people
- Author:
- THOMAS Hywel
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 109(43), 2013, pp.16-18.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
Depression is the most common mental health condition in people aged 65 and over. It can have a detrimental effect on quality of life and reduce patients' ability to manage their health. Nurses caring for older people with physical health problems are in an ideal position to identify depression. This article outlines how general nurses can do so and ensure their patients receive the appropriate mental health care. (Publisher abstract)
Evaluating crisis intervention services for youth within an emergency department: a view from within
- Authors:
- DION Jacinthe, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Care in Practice, 16(3), July 2010, pp.241-256.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
An innovative crisis intervention programme was created at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Canada in order to provide emergency assessments for youth presenting with mental health crises. The current investigation presents an overview of the programme and examines the emergency staff's perception and satisfaction with it. In June 2005, 87 emergency department medical staff out of 124 potential respondents completed a survey. The issues that were specifically examined were: the staff’s sense of competency with referring patients to the Crisis Intervention Program; staff’s overall satisfaction with the programme; potential usefulness of increased availability and coverage; the perceived impact of the Crisis Intervention Program on staff workload; staff’s training needs related to mental health issues; and the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the Crisis Intervention Program. The findings showed that emergency department staff place high value on having access to emergency mental health services, are pleased with the quality of service, and appreciate that the crisis intervention worker's presence allows them to spend more time with other patients.
Is NHS Direct meeting the needs of mental health callers?
- Authors:
- PAYNE Fiona, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 12(1), February 2003, pp.19-27.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
NHS Direct is a new service that offers 24-hour advice from trained nurses. The National Service Framework for Mental Health and the National Strategy for Carers both mention NHS Direct as an important source of support for people with mental health problems. This paper reports findings from an evaluation of the Department of Health's NHS Direct mental health initiative. This initiative was established to ensure that NHS Direct can meet the needs of callers with mental health problems by offering additional training to all staff and improving the database of mental health services. The findings reported here are based on routine computer data provided by 12 out of 17 NHS Direct sites, 552 data forms completed by nurse advisers from the 17 sites, and 111 questionnaires administered over the telephone with callers to the 17 sites. Mental health calls accounted for 3% of NHS Direct's workload, although these calls were often longer and more complex than other calls. The majority of callers to the service were in touch with other services for their mental health problems (59%), typically their GP. Most callers had `moderate' mental health problems, as indicated by the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale. Generally callers were satisfied with the service they received, although satisfaction was lower in some areas than previous studies of NHS Direct. Improvements could be made in the mechanisms for referring callers on to other services, and training to increase nurse advisers' knowledge of mental health problems.
Identification of psychological morbidity in older people in primary care by practice nurses
- Authors:
- CAPE J., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 7(6), November 2003, pp.446-451.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Older people with psychological morbidity generally first present to health services in primary care, where they are increasingly seen by primary care nurses. In order to evaluate primary care nurses' identification of psychological morbidity, 190 older patients attending eight practice nurses completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the practice nurses made an assessment as to the presence or absence of psychological problems. The practice nurses identified only 26% of probable cases of psychological morbidity identified by the GHQ. Their threshold for identification was high, rating only 12% of patients as experiencing psychological problems compared to 29% probable cases identified by the GHQ, and their accuracy was low (kappa for agreement between GHQ and nurse ratings = 0.23). Likelihood of identification depended on length and type of visit. The findings suggest that it may be unrealistic to expect practice nurses, without additional training and reorganisation of their work, to identify more than a minority of older patients with psychological morbidity in the course of their routine work.
Comparison of the assessment by doctors and nurses of deliberate self-harm
- Author:
- WESTON Sian Nerys
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatric Bulletin, 27(2), February 2003, pp.57-60.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
The aim of this article was to compare the assessment by community psychiatric nurses and junior psychiatric doctors of individuals following deliberate self-harm (DSH) and, in particular, to elicit differences in referral practices and perceptions of mental illness. The health professionals involved completed questionnaires after carrying out DSH assessment. There was a significant difference in referral patterns between doctors and nurses after DSH assessment. Doctors were significantly more likely to refer individuals for psychiatric follow-up which involved direct contact with other doctors (51 of 72 (71%) compared with 60 of 175 (34%)). Doctors were also significantly more likely than nurses to perceive individuals as having a mental illness (57 of 72 (79%) compared with 86 of 175 (49%)). Further research is warranted to establish the precise reasons for these differences, and to determine whether the widespread introduction of nurse-led services is an effective and efficient use of resources.