title: The skills required for conducting a community psychiatric nursing assessment: a qualitative study.
abstract: The shift in focus from primarily institutionally based care, to community-based care, has highlighted the need for community psychiatric nurses with appropriate skills to care for clients experiencing mental illness within the community. This paper describes the results of a qualitative research project undertaken to examine the skills required by psychiatric nurses in conducting an assessment within the community. In depth interviews were conducted with a sample of six currently practising community psychiatric nurses, with differing levels of experience. The findings identified the main skills as: interpersonal skills; psychiatric nursing knowledge base; the ability to work with a variety of treatment modalities; and, literacy skills. The specific significance of these skills for the educational preparation of community psychiatric nurses is discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Postgraduate Nursing, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Happell
mesh_terms: D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000379:methods; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*