Building Capacity in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing: Evidence-Based Strategies Across Four Domains

The current narrative review synthesizes evidence on human capacity across emotional, cognitive, physical, and relational domains, providing psychiatric-mental health nurses (PMHNs) with evidence-based strategies to foster patient resilience and workforce sustainability. Capacity depletion affects patients and nurses, yet traditional assumptions that capacity restores naturally with time are contradicted by research.

CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Scopus were searched for studies published from 2005 to 2025 on capacity-building interventions in psychiatric-mental health settings, using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme and Joanna Briggs Institute quality appraisal tools.

Mindfulness-based interventions, cognitive remediation therapy, progressive exercise programs, and peer support models produce measurable improvements across all domains.

PMHNs can integrate assessment tools (e.g., Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 6-Minute Walk Test, UCLA Loneliness Scale), dose-specific interventions, and outcome tracking to systematically address capacity deficits while applying similar strategies to mitigate burnout and enhance professional resilience.