INTEGRATION OF MENTAL HEALTH INTO PEDIATRIC PRIMARY CARE, THE ROLE OF NURSING

Purpose/Aims: There is an ongoing and continuous emphasis on integrating mental health care and primary health care for the last several years. Mental health screening works best in primary care settings as opposed to acute care settings. The purpose of this podium is to provide a theoretical approach and conceptual model for assessing nurses’ perception of their role in this dynamic through primary care. Application of the model defines the barriers and potential for further education on mental health screening for nurses in integrated mental health care.

Description of theory: The System’s Research Organization Model (SROM) structures and models research designs looking at the system of nursing’s role in the integration of mental health assessment of the pediatric medical patient.  Brewer, Verran, and Stichler’s SROM present four core constructs: client, content, action focus and outcomes (2007). The inter-relatedness and feedback loops of this model are essential in understanding the nursing system and process, and comprehending how all elements are interrelated.

Internal consistency of the theory developed:  The theory notes that the organization of the healthcare systems defines the client and nursing action focus. The combined influence of the organizational system on the nurse and nursing actions predictably defines the outcome as well as the range of the outcome focus. These propositions are consistent with the findings in the literature demonstrating the level of the outcomes for client mental health.    

Logic linking the theory to nursing practice/research:  The theoretical framework of the Systems Research Organizing Model (SROM) (Brewer, Verran, & Stichler, 2007) focuses nursing research on systems as a whole, the individual parts of the whole, and the interactions of the parts. The potential effect of assessing PNP’s perception of mental health screening and the organizational systems barriers allows them to be critiqued and eventually repaired.  Barriers to screening and PNP’s perceptions in this research topic may be instrumental in determining new successful approaches to mental health screening in pediatrics.  The role of nursing in mental health screening in pediatric primary care are applied to the SROM.

Conclusions:  Focusing on pediatric mental health screening and its implementation allows for quality of care to be improved, and mental health issues to possibly be further identified in the pediatric population using the SROM model. Identification of organizational problems in pediatrics can lead to improved prevention and treatment. Using the SROM to address the holistic approach to patient care and treating the mental and physical components of patients will improve the ever present mental health needs in children and adolescents.