City Research Online

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Nurses play an important role in improving the physical health of individuals with serious mental illnesses. The literature on the attitudes of mental health nurses towards physical healthcare provides a small amount of data. Assessing trends in nurses' attitudes through suitable surveys is important to ensure holistic care. AIM/QUESTION: This study sought to examine the Turkish version of the Physical Health Attitude Scale's (PHASe) validity and reliability and to survey Turkish mental health nurses' attitudes towards physical healthcare. METHOD: The sample consisted of 174 nurses working in acute psychiatric wards. Firstly, the psychometric properties of the scale were analyzed using factor analysis and measures of internal consistency and reliability. Then, the survey results of the attitudes of mental health nurses towards the physical health of patients with serious mental illnesses were determined using the Physical Health Attitude Scale (PHASe). RESULTS: The translated PHASe scale functioned best as a 24-item version and 4-factor solution that explains 51.3% of the variance. The internal consistency value was .83. The respondents' attitudes were generally positive about their role. There was less agreement for the involvement of nurses in practices of health promotion, such as sexual health, eye and/or dental examinations. The nurses surveyed also tended to use smoking for therapeutic purposes. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Mental health nurses' knowledge and attitudes should be enhanced by additional training in the ways of meeting patients' biopsychosocial needs. Obstacles to physical healthcare can be removed by implementing standard protocols nationwide. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Özaslan, Z., Bilgin, H., Uysal Yalçın, S. and Haddad, M. (2019). Initial Psychometric Evaluation of the Physical Health Attitude Scale and a Survey of Mental Health Nurses. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12553. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Publisher Keywords:	attitude, mental health,nurses, health, patients, surveys and questionnaires, delivery of health care, validity and reliability
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RT Nursing
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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