Empowering Staff Nurses With Essential Skills: Training Strategies for Success

Nurse leaders in the mental health field are challenged to ensure the mental health environment is safe and therapeutic. They must also continually evaluate whether nurses are effectively engaging therapeutically with patients in their care. Undergraduate nursing students and practicing nurses usually receive little or no training in facilitating nurse-led groups. Nurses who are trained and capable of facilitating groups may enhance therapeutic relationships and engage patients to improve treatment outcomes. Training staff and disseminating educational materials in an efficient manner are often challenges for nurse leaders. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Nursing Services (ONS) Mental Health Field Advisory Committee (MH-FAC) developed a nursing guide for conducting psychoeducation groups. This was followed up with a complementary live virtual training with "on-demand" features that included discussion and demonstration of nurse-led group implementation strategies. Both products were disseminated to nurse leaders throughout the VHA ONS Web site. Responses to both the guide and video were overwhelmingly positive. This article discusses the importance of nurse-led psychoeducational groups and describes a project implemented by the ONS MH-FAC, which helped provide an essential training to more than 1100 RNs within the Veterans Affairs Health System nationally.