Self-Perceived Competence of Ambulance Nurses in the Care of Patients with Mental Illness: A Questionnaire Survey

Ambulance nurses in prehospital emergency care must assess, treat, and triage patients with mental health issues. This study aimed to investigate the self-perceived competence of ambulance nurses in prehospital emergency care of patients with mental illness. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) Italy), 2022-03, Vol.12 (1), p.226-234
Main Authors: Önnheim, Sandra, Johansson, Anders, Ivarsson, Bodil, Hagström, Caroline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ambulance services
assessment experience
competence
Data collection
Education
Emergency medical care
Gender differences
Health Sciences
Hälsovetenskap
knowledge
Medical and Health Sciences
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
Mental disorders
Mental health care
mental illness
Nurses
Nursing
Omvårdnad
Patients
Perceptions
prehospital emergency care
Questionnaires
Response rates
Self image
Women
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Summary:Ambulance nurses in prehospital emergency care must assess, treat, and triage patients with mental health issues. This study aimed to investigate the self-perceived competence of ambulance nurses in prehospital emergency care of patients with mental illness. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was done, a question-index value (Q-IV; range: 0-1.0) was defined as a summary of the proportion of positive responses (%). Correlations of self-perceived competence with education and professional experience were also examined. Overall self-perceived competence was good (mean Q-IV, 0.80). For six of the nine questions, women rated their abilities slightly lower than men. Women rated themselves as fairly good in providing "information about types of effective help available" (Q-IV, 0.55) and in "suggesting tactics for helping a person with mental illness feel better" (Q-IV, 0.56). Men rated their competence as fairly good in "directing patients to appropriate sources of help" (Q-IV, 0.58). Self-perceived competence did not correlate with education level or professional experience. In conclusion, these results indicate that in encounters with patients who have mental illness, ambulance nurses perceive their overall competencies as good, with some sex-based differences in self-perception for specific knowledge areas. Education level and professional experience did not correlate with self-perceived competence.
ISSN:2039-4403
2039-439X
2039-4403
DOI:10.3390/nursrep12010023