scholarly journals Physical health monitoring in mental health settings: a study exploring mental health nurses’ views of their role

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (19-20) ◽  
pp. 3067-3078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Mwebe
2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-115
Author(s):  
Majella Cahill ◽  
Anne Jackson

AbstractDeveloping effective models of identifying and managing physical ill health amongst mental health service users has become an increasing concern for psychiatric service providers. This article sets out the general professional and Irish statutory obligations to provide physical health monitoring services for individuals with serious mental illness. Review and summary statements are provided in relation to the currently available guidelines on physical health monitoring.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1234-1234
Author(s):  
F. Cheema ◽  
J. Graham ◽  
D. Moffat ◽  
C. Gordon

It is well recognised that individuals with severe mental health difficulties have increased risks of significant physical health problems and that some of the treatments for mental health problems can cause physical health difficulties as side effects. It is also known that people with mental health difficulties do not present themselves regularly for physical health monitoring as suggested by national and international guidelines. We show how a secondary care community mental health service cooperated with primary care general medical services to increase the take up of physical health monitoring by patients with severe and enduring mental health problems.Staff in the community mental health team which served a rural/small urban population identified patients with severe and enduring mental health difficulties or those patients on medications linked to physical problems and contacted the primary care physicians responsible for the patients’ general care with patient details and encouraged patient attendance for physical health monitoring. Physical monitoring included blood pressure, ECG, glucose, thyroid, lipids, height and weight. Post-intervention attendance figures show an increase of 30% in patients attending physical health reviews compared with pre-intervention figures. The intervention has been now rolled out to a larger catchment area of 25000 persons.[Physical health monitoring by individual parameter]


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Hemingway ◽  
Andrew Clifton ◽  
John Stephenson ◽  
Karen-Leigh Edward

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-202
Author(s):  
Camilla M. Haw ◽  
Jean H. Stubbs ◽  
Geoffrey L. Dickens

Purpose – Use of off-license medicines in forensic mental health settings is common and unlicensed drugs are sometimes prescribed. Despite their responsibility for administering medicines little is known about how mental health nurses view these practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 50 mental health nurses working in low and medium secure adolescent and adult mental health wards were presented with a clinical vignette about administration of unlicensed and off-license medicines. Semi-structured interviews about their likely clinical response to, and feelings about, this practice were conducted. Interview data were subject to a thematic analysis. Findings – Analysis revealed six themes: status of unlicensed/off-label medicines; legality of administering unlicensed medicines; professional standards around administering unlicensed medicines; finding out more about unlicensed medicines; trusting medical colleagues; and decision making in uncertain cases. Practical implications – Forensic mental health nurses take a pragmatic approach to the practice of administering unlicensed medicines and most are aware of their professional responsibilities. Originality/value – This study provides the first evidence to inform the development of training for forensic mental health nurses about an issue that is common in forensic mental health practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Helen Anderson ◽  
Anna Kolliakou ◽  
Daniel Harwood ◽  
Nicola Funnell ◽  
Robert Stewart ◽  
...  

Aims and method To support safe prescribing of antipsychotics in dementia, antipsychotic monitoring forms were embedded into our electronic health records. We present a review of the data collected on these forms to assess prescribing and identify areas for improvement in our practice and processes. Data were extracted from the structured fields of antipsychotic initiation and review forms completed between 1 January 2018 and 31 January 2020. Results We identified gaps in practice where improvements could be made, mainly with regard to physical health monitoring (and particularly electrocardiograms, performed in only 50% of patients) and the low (less than 50%) recorded use of non-pharmacological interventions for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. In addition, antipsychotic treatment was continued despite lack of benefit in almost 10% of reviews. Clinical implications We advocate for recommendations on physical health monitoring of people with dementia taking antipsychotics to be added to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on dementia and the Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health (POMH-UK) national audit.


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