Development and validation of clinical indicators for mental health nursing practice.

A national study was undertaken in Australia to develop and validate a set of clinical indicators for mental health nursing. Using survey and action research procedures, the indicators were developed in two stages. During stage one, focus group interviews involving 39 nurses were conducted at national conferences in Australia and New Zealand in order to provide a pool of indicator statements. A Delphi survey of an Australian sample of mental health nurses (n = 33) was then conducted to refine the indicators. In stage two, the refined indicators were tested and validated in selected clinical settings. A total of 1751 mental health nurses employed at 14 sites were involved in the second stage of the study. The resulting data were used to establish the set of national indicators that the Australian and New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses will use in practice accreditation and benchmarking.