An investigation of aged care mental health knowledge of Queensland aged care nurses

Abstract

Older people are at risk for developing psychiatric disorders and require highly skilled and knowledgeable nurse practitioners to provide early recognition and intervention of psychiatric problems. This study sought to identify the aged care mental health knowledge of registered nurses (RNs) employed in long-term aged care and test the validity and reliability of a North American tool for use in an Australian context. The Mary Starke Harper Ageing Knowledge Exam (MSHAKE) was sent to RNs (n = 350) in 70 long-term care facilities (LTCF) in Queensland, Australia, and 107 surveys were returned (30.5% response). Participants were found to be unprepared for the reality of caring for the mental health needs of an older population and to have knowledge deficits related to suicide, prevalence of mental illness, mental health and ethnicity, and a number of issues regarding dementia.

Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly care: a comparison of home‐based care and nursing homes

“…Thus, while nursing work differs between care settings, staff expressed similar competence development needs in both environments. Previous studies have shown that staff competence development was needed in areas such as care recipients’ mental illnesses (Hsu et al. 2005), palliative care (Raudonis et al.…”

A quasi-experimental design trial exploring the effect of a partnership intervention on family and staff well-being in long-term dementia care

“…Family caregivers believe that not only is the conflict related to negative staff attitudes towards families, but also their reported difficulty in giving up both their caregiving routine and obligation for caregiving when they place a relative into care (Bauer, 2006;Bramble et al, 2009). Caring for people with dementia is also stressful for staff caregivers and is cited as one of a number of factors contributing to staff recruitment and retention challenges for LTC facilities, leading to job dissatisfaction (Hsu, Moyle, Creedy, & Venturato, 2005).…”

Restraint use in acute and extended mental health services for older persons

“…Mental health care of older persons can be complex, with comorbidity of physical and chronic conditions (Hsu et al . ; Lacro & Jeste ; Ng et al . ; Voyer & Martin ).…”

“…Complex decisions faced by nurses and other health professionals in using restraint are particularly apparent with older consumers of mental health services. Mental health care of older persons can be complex, with comorbidity of physical and chronic conditions (Hsu et al 2005;Lacro & Jeste 1994;Ng et al 2009;Voyer & Martin 2003). At the same time, the diversity of problematic or agitated behaviours, such as aggression, encountered in older persons' care settings by staff have been well-documented (Cohen-Mansfield et al 1989;Kolanowski et al 2002), and can pose significant challenges to care.…”