Mental health nursing students’ views on their readiness to address the physical health needs of service users on registration

There is substantial evidence that people (service users) living with a serious mental illness experience poorer physical health than the general population and die prematurely from life-threatening illnesses. Mental health nurses are best placed to address the physical health needs of service users but evidence points to numerous challenges, including a deficit in their proficiency to meet these needs. Nurse education and mental health services are being reshaped to better equip nurses with the skill set to meet the care needs of service users. The aim of the present study was to gain an in-depth insight into final-year mental health nursing students’ views (MHNS) of their preparation to address the physical health needs of service users. Using a qualitative exploratory approach, the views of final-year MHNS learning experiences of physical care were explored through a focus group and in-depth interviews. The focus group generated broad issues, which were then explored in semistructured, individual interviews. The transcribed audio-taped data were analysed using a framework approach to identify the emerging key themes. The themes identified were the comprehensiveness of physical care content, delivery and method of teaching, exposure to physical care in practice, and confidence to address physical health needs. The findings of the present study indicate that there is a need to enhance both the theoretical and practical components of preregistration education for MHNS on physical care.