Comprehensive Assessment in Mental Health Nursing

5045 Words21 Pages
International Journal of Mental Health Nursing (2011) 20, 364–370

Feature Article

_742

doi: 10.1111/j.1447-0349.2011.00742.x

364..370

What is a comprehensive mental health nursing assessment? A review of the literature
Tim Coombs,1 Janette Curtis2 and Patrick Crookes2
1

Training and Service Development, Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network, New South
Wales Institute of Psychiatry, Sydney, and 2Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, School of Nursing,
Midwifery and Indigenous Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

ABSTRACT: Assessment is the foundation on which nursing care is delivered. The aim of this paper is to better understand the content (what information nurses seek about consumers) and the process
(how they go about gathering that information) of a comprehensive mental health nursing assessment in practice. Using terms, such as ‘nursing’, ‘mental health’, and ‘assessment’, the CINAHL, Medline, and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies that describe the content and process of a comprehensive mental health nursing assessment. Although studies of aspects of mental health nursing assessment, such as the assessment of risk or carer burden, were found, no single study described both the content and process of a comprehensive mental health nursing assessment in practice. In Australia, a comprehensive assessment is codified as a competency to practice nursing; however, the standards of practice set for mental health nurses are less clear on what constitutes a comprehensive assessment or how this should be undertaken. The peer-reviewed literature describes assessment as both an independent and interdependent activity. It is described as informal, and there is evidence that comprehensive mental health nursing assessments are not well documented. The credibility of
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