Alcohol-intoxicated patients in the emergency department (ED) can be very challenging. That is why nursing staff need different kind of skills to promote effective healthcare to these patients. The aim was to describe nursing staff's self-assessed skills concerning the care of acutely ill alcohol-intoxicated patients in EDs. A descriptive quantitative survey was used to measure Finnish ED nursing staff's ( N = 1220, n = 252) skills in this area. The data were analysed statistically. The staff had the best skills in the care of acutely ill alcohol-intoxicated patients in security and safety issues. The skills related to follow-up treatment were the poorest area. The background factors that had a statistically significant association with the skills were work experience in psychiatric nursing or intoxicant care as well as alcohol use related training. Work experience increases ED staff's skills in alcohol intoxicant care, but with updating education these skills would possibility be better to acquire earlier in a nurse's working career.

Prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents varies from 10 to 30%. Therefore, mental health promotion in school has risen as a very important developing area in public health services. The need is international. Despite the large number of projects and recommendations on the promotion of schoolchildren's mental health, the literature does not offer a comprehensive theoretical description of what mental health work with people of this particular age really is as a whole. The theory can be constructed by combining and comparing the viewpoints of the different parties--the employees, the schoolchildren and their families--as well as previous knowledge of the subject. The purpose of this research was to produce a description of the concepts used by employees when addressing the subject of promoting mental health in the upper level of comprehensive schools (grades 7-9). The description has been produced by analysing interviews with nine people who work with schoolchildren, as well as workgroup memos related to the development work. The respondents work in the fields of primary healthcare, specialised healthcare, the education authority and social services. The analysis was conducted by applying the grounded theory method. The research target was a Finnish upper-level comprehensive school with 446 pupils. Four key concepts were found: The concept of a school environment comprises the physical and social conditions in the school, the curricula and other instructions. Human resources comprise representatives of various organisations, their competencies and time-consumption opportunities. The schoolchildren and their families and also their friends are key operators and partners. The concept of work to promote mental health is related to enhancing the school's conditions, recognising problems and offering help, co-operation and joint agreement. The produced description clarifies the overall picture of mental health work in schools and facilitates the finding of key development areas.

This article presents an action research project as a method to combine science and practical expertise in order to develop the practices of the health care system. The project aimed at developing mental health promotion in the school community in general and at finding tools for timely help when mental health is at risk. The underlying idea is that mental health is an integral part of health and by promoting general well-being it is also possible to promote and ensure mental health at school. The study was conducted in a Finnish lower secondary school of 446 pupils where the pupils are aged between 12 and 15 years. The initial survey was conducted using the School Well-being Profile, a tool developed by Anne Konu. A well-being questionnaire was used to identify the areas in need of improvement, providing the basis for planning and implementing development measures together with the local actors. The instrument proved to be a usable way of collecting feedback of the well-being of the school environment. As a result of the action research project, the school's physical conditions and social relationships improved and appropriate practices for future problem situations were set.

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The analysis produced concepts about mental health promotion in school and assumptions about relationships. Grounded theory proved to be an effective means of eliciting people's viewpoints on mental health promotion. The personal views of different parties make it easier to identify an action applicable to practice.