Of the 23 CPNs, 20 were trained at a bachelor level and 3 at a master's level. There were 5 of the CPNs who worked within a team that specialized in bipolar disorder, 7 who worked with patients with all types of mood disorders. There were 2 CPNs who only saw patients with bipolar disorder for consultation with regard to their use of a mood stabilizer, and 9 who worked in a general outpatient clinic but were specialized in bipolar disorders and therefore all patients assigned to them were diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Of the 20 participating organizations, 8 actually described their treatment policies in mental health care programs. Five of the organizations conducted routine outcome measurement using the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hamilton Depression Rating Sale, or Life Charts. Five of the organizations held regular multidisciplinary evaluations of a patient's treatment plan; the other 15 organizations undertook only ad hoc evaluations. Of the 20 organizations, 6 measured patient satisfaction.
None of the CPNs reported use of the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) taxonomy, the Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC), or the Nursing Outcome Classification (NOC). Similarly, none of the CPNs reported use of nursing care plans. In Table 2, a list of the patient problems, desired outcomes, and current interventions mentioned by the nurses in the interviews is presented.