Nursing psychotherapeutic interventions: a review of clinical studies

To summarise current knowledge about nursing psychotherapeutic interventions in adults.

In Portugal, the provision of psychotherapeutic interventions is considered a competence of mental health nurses. However, literature is not totally clear about the differences between 'psychotherapy' and 'psychotherapeutic interventions' and about the specific characteristics that define a nursing psychotherapeutic intervention.

Narrative review.

A literature review utilising MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, the Web of Science, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and MedicLatina computerised databases for the period from 2003-2013. A total of 151 eligible articles were identified. Relevant data were extracted, and findings were synthetised in a narrative synthesis.

Nursing psychotherapeutic interventions are frequently based on 'Cognitive-Behavioural' rationale. The usual length of these interventions varies between 5-16 weeks, in a total of 5-12 sessions of 45-60 minutes. The mechanisms of change are heterogeneous, but the therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the client seems to be the most important positive predictive factor of nursing psychotherapeutic interventions. Some of the most used outcome assessment measures include the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the CORE-OM. The effectiveness of nursing psychotherapeutic interventions has been widely demonstrated in many studies. However, the need of further studies to prove its cost effectiveness is evident.

It is necessary to have a better understanding of nursing psychotherapeutic interventions, one that explains its conceptual limits, to improve mental health nursing knowledge and create suitable models of psychotherapeutic intervention in nursing.

The findings of this review can create awareness for some weaknesses of nursing knowledge about the psychotherapeutic intervention and for the need to produce knowledge, to nurture the nursing discipline in the area of psychotherapeutic intervention with even more theoretical and practical support.