Compassionate care for people who self-harm: principles, tools and techniques
Learn about tools that can be used to provide compassionate care such as urge surfing
20 Dec 2022
Karen Wright
Nurse bodycam use: a benefit or a waste of resources?
Two leading nurses discuss whether body camera use in healthcare could be beneficial
26 Sep 2019
Developing authentic mental health nursing research and practice
Throughout a project to research therapeutic relationships between women with anorexia and their care workers the author kept a reflexive account of the research, which included an exploration of her use of self and her own self-awareness. The therapeutic use of self, which is fundamental to nursing, is considered in the context of the simultaneous role of nurse researcher. The two roles can complement each other: sensitive researching is enhanced by nursing skills such as the therapeutic use of self, while research can heighten awareness, knowledge and compassion. Recognising and separating one’s own experiences, reactions and opinions is used together with continuing reflexive self-appraisal to ensure that collection and interpretation of qualitative data are not biased, and assumptions are not made. Authenticity is crucial to the process.
10 Dec 2014
Mental health emergencies: using a structured assessment framework
People who have mental health crises while attending emergency departments require immediate assessment and management, and staff need to be prepared to meet the specific needs of this patient group. This article provides an overview of the Public Psychiatric Emergency Assessment Tool, which is used by Lancashire Constabulary, among others, to share information with healthcare professionals. By using the tool, practitioners can organise and structure the information they acquire during patient assessments, and from accompanying carers, paramedics or police. They can then pass this information on to specialist mental health professionals. This article was published previously in Emergency Nurse (2012) volume 19, number 10, pages 28-35, and was updated before publication in Nursing Standard .
17 Oct 2012
Mental health emergencies: using a structured assessment framework
People who have mental health crises while attending emergency departments (EDs) require immediate assessment and management, and ED staff must be prepared to meet the specific needs of this client group. This article gives an overview of the public psychiatric emergency assessment tool ( Wright et al 2008 ), which is used by, for example, the Lancashire Constabulary to share information with healthcare professionals. By using the tool, practitioners can organise and structure the information they acquire during patient assessments, and from accompanying carers, paramedics, or police. They can then pass this information on to mental health specialists.
09 Mar 2012
Conducting research on acute mental health admission wards
A group of researchers investigated medication (drug) rounds on mental health admission wards in response to the dearth of research into the subject. Here, they present the specific challenges encountered during first-stage data collection using non-participant observation and follow-up interviews. These include accessibility – developing the trust of the staff and the patients – and securing consent. The paper makes a number of recommendations for future research in this area of practice.
01 Jul 2009