Rural families as resources for family members who are mentally ill: a call for nursing involvement

Perspectives of patients, relatives and nurses on rooming-in for adult patients: A scoping review of the literature

AIM

To explore the perspectives of patients, their relatives and nurses on rooming-in for adult patients.

BACKGROUND

The practice of having family stay overnight with an adult patient in hospital is quite new. To support rooming-in programs, the perspectives from all stakeholders should be taken into account.

METHODS

All types of studies on rooming-in in adult healthcare settings were included in this scoping review. Rooming-in has been defined as the practice where 'family members or trusted others are facilitated to continuously stay with the patient and are provided with facilities to sleep in the patient's room'.

RESULTS

Seven studies were included: one randomized controlled trial, three qualitative studies, and three correspondence articles. Generally, patients felt safe in the presence of a family member, but could also feel restricted in their freedom and privacy. Family members saw a benefit for the patient, considered rooming-in a moral duty, and were happy to help. Nonetheless, family members reported rooming-in as physically and emotionally stressful. Nurses described that patients were less anxious and more easily adjusted to the hospital environment.

CONCLUSIONS

The reviewed studies suggest that patients, family members, and nurses have both positive and negative experiences with rooming-in. The concept of rooming-in varies from continuous presence and involvement of relatives to one overnight stay in the patient's room. Each interpretation has its own implications for policy, design, guidelines and feasibility of rooming-in. Nursing staff should be included in decision-making processes for this practice.

Treating acute mental illness in rural general hospitals: Necessity or choice?

OBJECTIVE

To identify reasons why rural general practitioners (GPs) treat a large proportion of patients with a primary psychiatric diagnosis in general beds of their local hospitals, and the barriers encountered when providing this treatment.

DESIGN

A postal questionnaire was developed and distributed to a sample of rural GPs, asking about the treatment of patients with an acute mental illness in their local hospital.

RESULTS

The majority of GPs agreed that they treat the acutely mentally ill in general beds of their local hospital due to lack of availability of, and inability to gain access to, mental health beds in the larger centres; and also to enable ongoing family involvement and continuity of care. Distance factors were identified as least significant. Barriers to providing care to this group of patients included a perceived lack of support by consultant psychiatrists, confidentiality issues, lack of community mental health workers to provide assistance, aggression levels of patients, inappropriate local hospital setting, and lack of confidence of GPs and general hospital nursing staff.

CONCLUSION

Addressing these barriers is necessary if rural Australians are to receive a quality of care that is equal to that received by those located in metropolitan Australia. Continuing research in this area is crucial.