The nurse-patient relationship in nursing documentation: the scope and quality of interactions and prevalent interventions in inpatient mental health units

Abstract

Aims. (i) To evaluate the scope and quality of nurse-patient interactions recorded in the clinical notes of inpatient mental health units and (ii) to identify nursing interventions recorded in the context of the nurse-patient relationship in the clinical notes of inpatient mental health units. Design. A multimethod approach was use. Methods. Employing a quantitative cross-sectional design for the first aim, and a qualitative content analysis design of secondary data for the second aim. In total, 1,714 clinical notes were examined from 44 randomly selected patients who were hospitalized in five mental health units over the years 2022-2023. Results. The patient’s experience of the interaction was present in 69.9% (n = 1,198) of the notes. However, only 12.0% (n = 205) of the notes reached a sufficient standard of quality in terms of describing the nurse-patient interactions. Specifically, more than half of the notes did not reflect any type of nursing intervention (n = 723; 60.4%). Thirty interventions compatible with the nursing intervention classification were identified, of which more than 70% corresponded to domains in the physiological area. Conclusion. This study shows that the quantity and scope of patients’ clinical notes in mental health units do not sufficiently reflect the interventions performed by nurses, nor the quality or impact of these interventions in the context of the nurse-patient therapeutic relationship. Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care. Improving the quality of clinical notes by integrating interventions and their impact can increase the quality of nursing care. Impact. The use of standardized nursing terminologies would contribute to the understanding of the extent and quality of nurse-patient interactions recorded in clinical notes. Thus, standardized documentation would also help to improve these interactions and their recording, which will facilitate decision-making. Reporting Method. Findings were reported using COREQ and STROBE guidelines. Patient or Public Contributions. There were no patient or public contributions.