title: Nursing in tele-mental health.
abstract: This article discusses a cooperative project involving an academic health sciences center, a state university, a women's shelter, and a community mental health center in East Texas, a medically underserved, rural region of Texas. The U.S. Department of Commerce provided grant funding to develop a telehealth network to provide an evaluation, referral, and treatment program for victims of domestic violence. Nurses were involved in all phases of the project, from initial conception through development, implementation, and evaluation. The authors concluded that all of the women involved in the study had significant mental health issues and other health concerns that were not being addressed by the existing health care delivery system. Without the use of telehealth, these women would have had limited access to primary health care and virtually no access to mental health services. The East Texas Tele-Mental Health Network demonstrates the value of the clinical and organizational skills that nurses bring to innovative models of mental health service delivery.
authors.affiliation: UTMB Hospitals and Clinics Nursing Department, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0473, USA. ptschirc@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Poldi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tschirch
authors.forename: Glenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Linda T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Calvacca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000458:organization & administration; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000458:organization & administration; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013781:Texas; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*