Psychosocial rehabilitation nurses: taking our place on the multidisciplinary team

Nurses have been working in the AMI/ABLE ISA for the past 6 years as part of a multidisciplinary team. The nursing contribution is important to the Team, not only because of nursing expertise in providing psychiatric mental health care, but also because nurses can provide services unique to nursing, such as health assessments and education, and medication support (Fur-long-Norman, Palmer-Erbs, & Jonikas, 1997). More than 80 people who are disabled by mental illnesses have been served by this innovative program since 1991, and members' hospitalization rates have been cut approximately in half by integrating services and reducing fragmentation, and by using aggressive outreach and a psychosocial rehabilitation approach. Psychosocial rehabilitation nursing has become a subspecialty that has expanded the profession. Experience in the AMI/ABLE program demonstrates that nurses, as fully integrated members of multidisciplinary teams, adapt to working in partnerships with clients and their families, in nontraditional settings.