Improving the social validity and implementation of behaviour therapy training for psychiatric nurses using a...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatric Nursing Education
• Healthcare Training Innovations
• Patient-Centred Care Models

Background:

• Previous psychiatric nurse training courses had low behavioral care plan implementation.
• Criticisms focused on the traditional 'classroom' format of earlier training.
• A need for a more effective, patient-centred approach was identified.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a new patient-centred training approach for psychiatric nurses.
• To improve the implementation of behavioural care plans.
• To assess the impact of practical learning tasks on nursing skills and training effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a patient-centred training program with practical learning tasks on the ward.
• Focused on developing single-subject care plans with direct patient involvement.
• Compared outcomes of nurses trained with the new approach (n=24) against a historical group (n=41).

Main Results:

• Nurses trained with the new approach showed superior results in two skill measures post-testing.
• Attending nurses conducted a higher number of care plans.
• The new course format received higher social validity ratings from participants.

Conclusions:

• A patient-centred, practical training format can enhance psychiatric nurses' skills and care plan implementation.
• This training model effectively overcomes institutional constraints hindering service innovation.
• The findings support the integration of practical, patient-involved learning in nursing education.