title: Selecting, training and supervising nurses to treat depression in the medically ill: experience and recommendations from the SMaRT oncology collaborative care trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Collaborative care programs to treat comorbid depression in the medically ill often have general (nonpsychiatric) nurses care managers. In this paper, we aim to provide practical recommendations for their selection, training and supervision.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on more than 10 years of experience of selecting, training and supervising general nurses to deliver a highly effective collaborative care programme called "Depression Care for People with Cancer," we describe the problems encountered and the solutions adopted to optimize the selection, training and supervision of nurse care managers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To select nurses for the role of care manager, we found that role plays enabled us to assess nurses' ability to interact with distressed patients and their capacity for self-reflection better than simple interviews. To train the nurses, we found that a structured program that mirrored the treatment manual and included simulated practice was best. To achieve effective supervision, we found that having sessions led by senior psychiatrists facilitated both constructive feedback to the nurses and effective review of the management of cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We recommend that the selection, training and supervision of general nurses use the strategies outlined if they are to maximize the benefit that patients achieve from collaborative care programs.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Medicine Research, University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK. Electronic address: marta.wanat@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wanat
authors.affiliation: Psychological Medicine Research, University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hodges
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, UK; University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Psychological Medicine Research, University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharpe
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education* / Q000458:organization & administration; D010560:Personnel Selection
keywords: Cancer; Collaborative; Depression; Nurse; Training