Youth-, family-, and professional-rated utility of a narrative discharge letter written to older adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

PROBLEM: Little has been written on the value of composing narrative letters to adolescent psychiatric inpatients as rated by those who receive them. METHODS: Survey of youth, family members, and professionals given copies of a narrative discharge letter written as an alternative to a copy of an initial discharge letter written to the referrer. FINDINGS: Narrative letters conceptualized and validated youth experience, progress, and future directions in a language easily understood by the youth and family members, enabling reflection and empowerment. CONCLUSION: Narrative letter writing is a valuable therapeutic tool to facilitate reflective, empowering partnerships among professionals, youth, and family members.

An examination of frequent nursing interventions and outcomes in an adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit.

Little is known about which nursing interventions used in adolescent psychiatric inpatient treatment demonstrate improvements in outcome in the 'real world' setting, despite an increase in external outcomes reporting requirements.This paper examines nursing and other multidisciplinary interventions commonly used at the Youth Inpatient Unit, Christchurch, New Zealand, in relation to improvements in outcomes as measured by the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents, utilizing data gathered prospectively as part of an ongoing quality assurance and outcomes project. We found the majority of interventions investigated were utilized equally across diagnostic groups, although stress management and problem-solving education was used more for patients with mixed affective disorders. Further, the results contribute to growing evidence toward the value of providing medication and problem-solving education to this population. Mental health nurses working with children and adolescents should be supported to utilize and develop their unique skill set to offer targeted interventions and to examine their practice to identify the most valuable interventions for their patients within this developmental context.