The Core Nursing Interventions in Adult Psychiatric Outpatient Care Identified by Nurses, a Delphi Study

To define the core nursing interventions identified by nurses in the adult psychiatric outpatient care setting.

A two-round Delphi study. The panel consisted of nurses and nurse managers.

Nurses identified 53 core interventions, 50 of which are described in the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC). Altogether, two thirds of these interventions were in the NIC domain 'Behavioral' and the emphasis was on NIC classes 'Coping Assistance' and 'Behavior Therapy,' suggesting that nurses define providing psychosocial support as the core in their work.

The findings indicate that the main role of nurses in the psychiatric outpatient care is to deliver psychosocial care for their patients. The lack of family interventions among the core interventions and the need to add the missing three interventions into the classification need more research in the future.

This study helps to define nurses' role in the psychiatric outpatient care. The findings can be used in developing nursing education programs.