Psychiatric Nurses' Family Focused Practice with Parents who have Mental Illness, their Children and Families in Adult Mental Health Services in Ireland

Background Mental health professionals, including psychiatric nurses, are encouraged to engage in family focused practice to effectively support parents who have mental illness, their children and families. Aims of the Study... [ view full abstract ]

Background
Mental health professionals, including psychiatric nurses, are encouraged to engage in family focused practice to effectively support parents who have mental illness, their children and families.
Aims of the Study
This study aimed to investigate psychiatric nurses’ perceptions of their family focused practice with parents who have mental illness, their children and families, in adult mental health services in Ireland. Specifically, the study sought to measure the extent, nature, scope and predictors of psychiatric nurses’ family focused practice in Ireland and to compare results with nurses in Australia.
Method
A mixed methods approach (sequential explanatory design) was employed. In Study One a clustered, random sampling approach was used to access 610 psychiatric nurses in 12 mental health services across Ireland. Data was elicited using the Family Focused Mental Health Practice Questionnaire with a 57 percent response rate (n= 346). In Study Two, fourteen high scoring psychiatric nurses, from Study One participated in semi-structured interviews. Permission to undertake the study was granted by Directors of Nursing and University College Dublin human research ethics committee.
Findings
Cross-country comparisons revealed significant differences, in terms of family focused skill, knowledge, confidence and practice. Australian psychiatric nurses engaged in higher family focused practice compared to Irish nurses.
Whilst the majority of Irish psychiatric nurses in Study One were not family focused a substantial minority were family focused. The most important predictors of FFP were skill and knowledge, followed by RPN group (acute versus community setting) and confidence around parenting and children generally. Study Two suggested that high scoring Irish psychiatric nurses’ FFP was complex and multifaceted, comprising various family focused activities, principles and processes.
Conclusions and implications
The comparative differences between Ireland and Australia may be attributable to differences in training, workplace support and policy. National policies could be introduced in Ireland to mandate the identification of service users’ parenting status by mental health professionals on admission to mental health services, and to embed information and support regarding parenting into on-going care. Furthermore, interdisciplinary child and family focused education could be provided to mental health professionals to facilitate the transfer of policy into practice.