Nursing interventions in mental health and psychiatry: Content analysis of records from the nursing information systems in use in Portugal.

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SUBJECT?: Planning and implementation of care are based on the selection and application of nursing interventions, which correspond to a key element in the nursing process. No information was found in the literature about which major nursing interventions are documented by nurses working in psychiatric wards. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Despite the criteria applied to the intervention records' analysis may have led to the exclusion of certain important aspects of mental health nursing, this study provides information on some of the most relevant interventions in the field of psychiatric and mental health nursing documented in Portugal, placing them into the different steps of the nursing process. This study revealed the lack of standardized language used by nurses in intervention definitions, which results in the use of varied terminology to describe the same intervention. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: This study constitutes an important contribution towards the standardization of language used by mental health nurses in intervention definitions, which may lead to the production of health indicators that will show policymakers the importance of nursing care towards population health. This study also contributes to the improvement of nursing informatics systems in use in psychiatric departments, particularly through the differentiation between different types of intervention, placing them into the proper steps of the nursing process. The problems identified in this study regarding nursing documentation may suggest that more training for professional nurses in the field of intervention formulation is needed. ABSTRACT: Introduction The nursing intervention corresponds to a key element in the nursing process. No information was found in the literature about which major interventions are documented by nurses working in psychiatric wards. Aims (a) To identify the interventions documented by nurses in Portugal that respond to nursing needs within the scope of psychiatric nursing; (b) to identify the main problems in identifying these interventions. Method A descriptive study combining: (a) quantitative content analysis of intervention records identified by mental health nurses in Portugal and (b) a focus group meeting with 14 nurses exploring the results of the first study phase. Results The 2,881 initial intervention records were systematized into 198 intervention categories. Some problems in the interventions' documentation by nurses were identified. Discussion Despite certain important aspects of mental health nursing may have been excluded, this study provides information on some of the most relevant interventions in the field of mental health nursing documented in Portugal. Implications for practice This study may offer an important contribution to the improvement of nursing informatics systems and the production of health indicators that reveal the contribution of nursing care towards population health.