UK and USA Clinical Mental Health Nurse Specialists' perceptions of their work

There is little scholarship to compare the work of mental health nurses in different countries, although this is perhaps understandable given that mental health nursing as a discrete discipline exists only in a few countries worldwide. The small-scale study reported here sought to compare the perceptions of UK and American Clinical Nurse Specialists of various aspects of their work, including latest professional developments, current therapies and interventions, and the major problems confronting nurses today. Prior to the main study being undertaken, a short questionnaire was piloted in both countries. The main questionnaire was distributed to 34 American nurses and completed by 25 (75.5% response rate), and to 28 UK nurses and completed by 24 (86% response rate). Descriptive statistics and content analyses were used to analyse the data which suggested that where UK nurses were concerned with the range and availability of services for clients and their families, American nurses were primarily preoccupied with the quality of those services. The American sample placed greater emphasis on the provision of care that enabled clients to take responsibility for themselves than did their UK counterparts. While acknowledging the limitations of the study, the results would appear to suggest that American nurses tend to favour humanistic care, have a belief in the efficacy of chemotherapy and aim to get people functioning independently. They fear the threat to their relationship with clients that managed care might entail. Concurrently, UK nurses appear to be preoccupied with finding appropriate services for their clients and they appear to believe that the changing nature of their work is designed to accommodate structural changes in the health service, rather than to meet the needs of clients. The implications of these findings are discussed.