Assessment following self-harm: nurses provide comparable risk assessment to psychiatrists but are less likely to admit for in-hospital treatment
- School of Health and Sport Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia
- Correspondence to Margaret McAllister
University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4558, Australia; mmcallis{at}usc.edu.au
Implications for practice and research
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▪ The major role that mental health nurses have in conducting self-harm assessments, including risk assessment and planning care pathways, should continue.
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▪ There are differences between nurses and psychiatrists in the judgements regarding the management of a client who is at risk of self-harm repetition.
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▪ Research is required to understand the reasons for the differences in clinical management.
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▪ It may be that these differences relate more towards how novice or expert the clinician is, rather than their disciplinary base (whether nurse or doctor).
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▪ If differences are due to expertise, then clinicians could benefit from a shared approach to education on …
