Increased skills in attending to the mental health needs of patients would also relieve strain on the nurses themselves, including the stress of dealing with challenging behaviour such as non-adherence to prescribed medication (Hallberg and Norberg 1993) and lack of confidence (due to lack of training). Mental health care skills were noted to diminish distress for nurses caring for patients with dementia following an attitude change intervention (Hallberg and Norberg 1993).
Prevalence