abstract: 'Accessible summary

  This paper examines the usage of psychological therapies by mental

  health nurses. The paper presents the findings from a questionnaire

  survey of 528 practising mental health nurses in Australia. Key findings

  include:

  Mental health nurses believe employing psychological therapies such as

  cognitive behaviour therapy in their practice will improve therapeutic

  outcomes for consumers.

  Mental health nurses overwhelmingly want to employ psychological

  therapies in their practice.

  They think mental health nursing and hospital and community health

  management is too focussed on medical treatment and risk management,

  which means that their nursing practice is dominated by the

  administration of medication, excessive documentation, and patient

  observation.

  They identify barriers preventing them from practising psychological

  therapies. These include lack of confidence, low nurse morale, no

  support from other nurses, low staffing levels, lack of training

  opportunities, and inadequate support from nursing management.

  This paper reports on a research project which examines the feasibility

  of mental health nurses employing psychological therapies in the nursing

  care of people with severe mental illness. Attitudes towards current

  usage and factors influencing the adoption of psychological therapies

  are investigated. The paper addresses the gap in the Australian nursing

  literature regarding the therapeutic role of mental health nurses (MHN)s

  in relation to the use of evidence-based psychological therapies. This

  paper presents the findings from an online questionnaire survey of 528

  practising MHNs in Australia. The findings demonstrate enthusiastic

  support among nurses towards employing psychological therapies, with

  93\% of respondents indicating they would like to use psychological

  therapies in their current practice. Correspondingly, there is strong

  demand for education and training in applying psychological therapies. A

  number of barriers to implementing psychological therapies are

  identified. It is noted that place of employment is a significant

  factor, with mental health nurses working in the public sector more

  likely to state institutional barriers are restricting their therapeutic

  potential and preventing them from implementing psychological therapies.'
affiliation: 'Fisher, JE (Corresponding Author), Univ Sydney, Sydney Nursing Sch,
  Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

  Univ Sydney, Sydney Nursing Sch, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.'
author: Fisher, J. E.
author-email: jacklinfisher@optusnet.com.au
author_list:
- family: Fisher
  given: J. E.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/jpm.12079
eissn: 1365-2850
files: []
issn: 1351-0126
journal: JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC AND MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
keywords: 'evidence-based nursing; psychological therapies; mental health nursing;

  cognitive behavioural therapy'
keywords-plus: 'COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY; NURSING-EDUCATION; DIRECT-ENTRY;

  SCHIZOPHRENIA; INTERVENTION; SETTINGS; TRIAL; CARE'
language: English
month: APR
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '39'
pages: 264-270
papis_id: 49516d944e0cece8dabc58b930a86f32
ref: Fisher2014usepsychological
times-cited: '10'
title: The use of psychological therapies by mental health nurses in Australia
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000332046300011
usage-count-last-180-days: '2'
usage-count-since-2013: '30'
volume: '21'
web-of-science-categories: Nursing; Psychiatry
year: '2014'