Liaison psychiatric nursing in an inner city accident and emergency department

The Mental Health Nursing Review Team recommend research to examine the potential of liaison mental health nursing. This paper describes a study into the work of two emergency psychiatric nurses (EPN) attached to a central London accident and emergency (A&E) department. A semi-structured interview schedule was employed to generate data on role development and purpose, and a retrospective survey of clinical activity was carried out over a 94-day period. Specific attributes and working practices, which promoted integration within the A&E department, are identified as are the reasons for referring patients to the EPNs, patients' primary problems on assessment, assessment outcome and the staff involved in each assessment. Findings are considered in relation to the various models of psychiatric consultation and liaison found in the literature. The scope and quality of the available data is also assessed and recommendations are made to enable a more robust prospective study to be undertaken.