Physical health care for people with mental illness: Training needs for nurses Brenda Happell a, b, c, d, ⁎, Chris Platania-Phung b, c, d , David Scott a, b, c, d a Central Queensland University, Bruce Hwy, Rockhampton, Queensland, 4702, Australia b Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Central Queensland University, Bruce Hwy, Rockhampton, Queensland, 4702, Australia c Centre for Mental Health Nursing Innovation, Central Queensland University, Bruce Hwy, Rockhampton, Queensland, 4702, Australia d School of Nursing and Midwifery, Central Queensland University, Bruce Hwy, Rockhampton, Queensland, 4702, Australia summary article info Article history: Accepted 18 January 2013 Keywords: Mental health Nurses Nursing role Physical health Survey design Training Aim: People diagnosed with serious mental illness have higher rates of physical morbidity and decreased longevity, yet these people are not adequately served by health care systems. Nurses may provide improved physical health support to consumers with serious mental illness but this is partly dependent on nurses having necessary skills and interest in training opportunities for this component of their work. This survey investigated Australian nurses' interest in training across areas of physical health care including lifestyle factors, cardiovascular disease, and identifying health risks. Methods: A nation-wide online survey of nurse members of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. The survey included an adapted version of a sub-section of the Physical Health Attitudes Scale. Participants were asked to indicate their interest in various aspects of physical health care training. Results: Most (91.6%) participants viewed educating nurses in physical health care as of moderate or signif- icant value in improving the physical health of people with serious mental illness. Interest in training in all areas of physical health care was over 60% across the health care settings investigated (e.g. public, private, primary care). Forty-two percent sought training in all nine areas of physical health care, from supporting people with diabetes, to assisting consumers with sexually-related and lifestyle issues. Conclusions: The findings suggest that nurses in mental health services in Australia acknowledge the importance of training to improve physical health care of consumers with serious mental illness. Training programs and learn- ing opportunities for nurses are necessary to reduce inequalities in health of people with serious mental illness. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Introduction In the last ten years there has been increasing recognition of significantly poorer health outcomes for people with serious mental illness (SMI). Studies comparing SMI groups to non-SMI identify a higher level of physical health problems (Filik et al., 2006; Carney et al., 2006). The risk of cardiovascular disease increases with second generation anti-psychotic medication use (Cowling, 2011), and lifestyle factors such as sedentariness, poor nutrition and smoking (Lawrence et al., 2009; Robson and Gray, 2007). Health services are not meeting the physical health needs of consumers with SMI (Viron and Stern, 2010; De Hert et al., 2011; Mitchell and Lord, 2010). Strategies are needed to increase physical health care standards. Nurses are the professional group in mental health services (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011) and can assist con- sumers to address associated risk factors (Brunero and Lamont, 2009; Muir-Cochrane, 2006; Park et al., 2011) and providing better access to physical health care (Bradshaw and Pedley, 2012; Muir-Cochrane, 2006; Robson and Gray, 2007; Blythe and White, 2012). More recently nurses have been involved in strategies to promote improved physical health care including: screening (Druss et al., 2010; Jordan et al., 2002; White et al., 2009), referrals and linking services (Smith et al., 2007), and advice on diet (Brown et al., 2011), physical activity (Ohlsen et al., 2005; Park et al., 2011), and smoking (Griffiths et al., 2010). Training nurses is identified as a strategy to address physical health care needs. However, it will only be of value if nurses want this training. Few studies have looked directly at the issue of training (Nash, 2005; Robson and Haddad, 2012; Howard and Gamble, 2011). Nash (2005) surveyed London-based nurses about training on physi- cal health, including willingness to undertake training. Endorsement for training was very high (96%). Similarly Howard and Gamble (2011) in the UK found nurses viewed physical health care as rele- vant, and identified a need for training in diabetes care. Participants also indicated lack of confidence in providing physical health care services and 75% reported having no physical training during their time with the care provider. Robson and Haddad (2012) created a questionnaire, the Physical Health Attitude Scale, on nurse views on Nurse Education Today 33 (2013) 396–401 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Central Queensland University, Bruce Hwy, Rockhampton, Queensland, 4702, Australia. Tel.: +61 7 49232164; fax: +61 7 49306402. E-mail addresses: b.happell@cqu.edu.au (B. Happell), c.platania-phung@cqu.edu.au (C. Platania-Phung), d.scott@cqu.edu.au (D. Scott). 0260-6917/$ – see front matter © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2013.01.015 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Nurse Education Today journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/nedt