Tags: health, mental health, health care, nursing
| Principal Investigator: | Austin, Wendy (1) |
| Licence Number: | 14604 |
| Organization: | University of Alberta, Faculty of Nursing |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2009
|
| Issued: | Aug 29, 2009 |
| Project Team: | Dr. Judy Mill, Anne Marie Creamer |
Objective(s): The goal of the proposed research is to understand how Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in Canada perceive their role when caring for individuals with mental illness or mental health problems. A theoretical model of therapeutic commitment, including the concepts of role support, role competency and therapeutic commitment will be tested.
Project Description: The goal of the proposed research is to understand how Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in Canada perceive their role when caring for individuals with mental illness or mental health problems. A theoretical model of therapeutic commitment, including the concepts of role support, role competency and therapeutic commitment will be tested. It is hypothesized that NPs with adequate support from consulting psychiatrists, physicians or other mental health professionals and adequate educational preparation will report a sense of role competency and consequently increased therapeutic commitment to working with persons with mental illness. Mail-out survey questionnaire was chosen as the research method. The Mental Health Problems Perception Questionnaire (MHPPQ), a 27 item summated rating scale will be used (Lauder, Reynolds, Reilly & Angus, 2000). A demographic section will include questions such as experience working with individuals with mental illness or mental health problems, education about these illnesses and their management, years licensed as a NP and community size. The target population is NPs in all Canadian provinces and territories (excluding Quebec and Yukon) who identify English as their language of contact or fluency in English. The distribution framework for the questionnaires will be Dillman's Total Design Method. Participants will receive four mailings; the first will introduce the study, the second will include a more detailed explanation of the study and the questionnaire, the third will remind the participants to complete the survey if they have not already done so and or thank the participant for returning the survey and the fourth mailing will resend the questionnaire with a cover letter. The data will be analyzed using SPSS. Responses from three open ended questions will be examined and themes will be reported. The results will inform NPs, NP educators, nursing associations, policy makers and employers about how NPs view their role when caring for this population. It has the potential to impact curriculum development of the NP role, policy and program development and mental health support for the role. Results that demonstrate that NPs feel competent, supported in their role and therapeutically committed to working with this population will enhance the credibility of the NP role as an option for accessing health care. Less positive results will help identify areas where the NP role may be enhanced and the resultant benefits to persons with mental illness could be substantial. The results will be published in nursing journal(s) and presented to the research funding agency, MindCare New Brunswick and nursing conferences where possible. Copies of the results will be sent to the nursing association in the NWT, to those who request them and to the Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nurses which may include nurses in the NWT. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 29, 2009 to December 31, 2009. Participants will complete the questionnaires in the time and place of their choice. The Researcher is in contact with the Registered Nurses Association of Northwest Territories and Nunavut to access the participants.
