University of Maryland School of Public Health (IB, PB, AA, GSM, JC), College Park, MD.
University of Maryland School of Public Health (IB, PB, AA, GSM, JC), College Park, MD.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Jul;27(7):664-674. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2018.12.028. Epub 2018 Dec 27.
Registered nurses are uniquely positioned to fill shortages in the geropsychiatric healthcare workforce. With training, nurses can coordinate both mental and physical healthcare and deliver mental health interventions. Our objective was to determine how nursing educators are preparing students to care for the mental health needs of older adults and to explore the challenges they face in this effort.
This was a qualitative study using semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Participants were undergraduate psychiatric nursing instructors recruited from schools of nursing in the Northeastern United States. Semistructured interviews focused on challenges and strategies related to preparing nursing students to meet the mental health needs of older patients.
Fourteen interviews were conducted. An overarching theme of bias against geropsychiatric care was identified as a challenge for educators. Educators reported that nursing students carry biases against patients with mental illness and older patients. Nursing students indicated negative perceptions of the psychiatric and geriatric nursing specialties. Most nursing students plan to work in nonpsychiatric settings and do not consider mental health a priority for their patients. To overcome these challenges, educators suggested increased exposure and integration. To prepare new nurses to care for the mental health needs of older patients, nursing schools should expose nursing students to older adults in a variety of settings and integrate mental health topics and training throughout the undergraduate nursing curriculum.
Nursing schools should evaluate their curricula to ensure that mental health content is prioritized and sufficiently integrated with physical health topics. An increased focus on geropsychiatric and integrated mental health content should be supported by nursing programs and state boards of nursing.
注册护士在填补老年精神卫生保健劳动力短缺方面具有独特的优势。经过培训，护士可以协调精神和身体健康护理，并提供心理健康干预。我们的目标是确定护理教育者如何培养学生满足老年人的心理健康需求，并探讨他们在这方面面临的挑战。
这是一项使用半结构式深入访谈的定性研究。参与者是从美国东北部的护理学校招募的精神科护理本科教师。半结构式访谈的重点是与为护理学生做好准备以满足老年患者心理健康需求相关的挑战和策略。
进行了 14 次访谈。发现对老年精神病护理的偏见是教育者面临的挑战之一。教育者报告说，护理学生对患有精神疾病和老年患者存在偏见。护理学生对精神科和老年护理专业表示负面看法。大多数护理学生计划在非精神科环境中工作，并不认为心理健康是患者的首要任务。为了克服这些挑战，教育者建议增加接触和整合。为了使新护士能够满足老年患者的心理健康需求，护理学校应让护理学生在各种环境中接触老年人，并将心理健康主题和培训贯穿于本科护理课程。
护理学校应评估其课程，以确保将心理健康内容置于优先地位，并将其与身体健康主题充分整合。护理计划和州护理委员会应支持增加对老年精神病学和综合心理健康内容的关注。
