Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The boarding of patients with psychiatric illnesses in the Emergency Department (ED) has become a prevalent issue across the world, posing significant challenges for healthcare providers. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the perceived competency and attitude of emergency nurses toward the care of patients boarding with psychiatric illnesses. METHODOLOGY: This was a prospective cross-sectional research study used to recruit emergency nurses working in four selected facilities under the organization. The study utilized a validated questionnaire, the Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC-15) and Behavioral Health Care Competency (BHCC) to collect the information from the participants through an online survey using a total enumerative sampling method. Frequency and percentage were used to find the demographic characteristics of the participants. ANOVA and t-tests were used to find out the association between the attitudes, competencies, and demographic profile of the participants. RESULTS: Three hundred and ten completed responses from the participants were used for analysis. Most participants were in the 31 to 40 years age group (72.26%; n = 224), with a mean age of 42 years, which ranged from 26 to 56 years. Males (n = 183) participated more compared to females (n = 127), and 85.16% (n = 264) of them have Bachelor's degrees in nursing. 40% (n = 124) of the participants have more than 10 years of experience in ED. The mean percentage scores of attitude and competency domains were -14.16 ± 36.26 and 35.07 ± 25.73, respectively. The competency domain showed a statistically significant correlation with the participants' age (P = 0.038) and their facility (P = 0.014). In contrast, attitude did not exhibit statistical significance with any demographic variables. CONCLUSION: The emerging data from the current study stated that the attitudes of ED nurses were predominantly positive; however, their perceived competency was falling below average. This highlights the need to improve their competency to strengthen the current practice, the quality of care, and the overall experiences of psychiatric patients in the ED.