Adrian Jones

Reviewing depot injection efficacy in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a severe and enduring mental health disorder. Treatment includes antipsychotic medication and psychological interventions. Medication can be administered as a depot injection; these treatments reduce the risk of relapse in some people with schizophrenia who have difficulties adhering to oral medication regimens. This article outlines the types of depot and medications that are available for the treatment of schizophrenia, and discusses the evidence base supporting their efficacy. The role of antipsychotic medication as part of a treatment plan should be reinforced by enabling patients to make an informed choice about which medication best supports their health and wellbeing.

The association between mental health nursing and hospital admissions for people with serious mental illness: a protocol for a systematic review

BackgroundRelapse in individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) is a frequent occurrence and can add considerably to the burden of disease. As such, relapse prevention is an essential therapeutic outcome for people with SMI. Mental health nurses (MHNs) are well placed to support individuals with SMI and to prevent relapse; notwithstanding, there has been no synthesis of the evidence to date to determine whether MHNs prevent relapse in this population.MethodsElectronic databases will be systemically searched for observational studies and clinical trials that report the association between mental health nursing and the hospitalisation of persons living with an SMI. The search will be supplemented by reference checking and a search of the grey literature. The primary outcome of interest will be hospital admission rate. Screening of articles, data extraction and critical appraisal will be undertaken by two reviewers, independently, with a third reviewer consulted should disagreement occur between reviewers. The quality of studies will be assessed using the Risk Of Bias In Non-randomised Studies - of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool and the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. Depending on the number of studies and level of heterogeneity, the evidence may be synthesised using meta-analysis or narrative synthesis.DiscussionThis review will explore for the first time the clinical potential of mental health nursing in preventing relapse in persons with SMI. The findings of this review will serve to inform future research and education in this area. The evidence may also help inform future policy, including decisions regarding future mental health workforce development and planning.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42017058694.

Medicines Management in Mental Health Nursing (Second edition) Mutsatsa Stan Medicines Management in Mental Health Nursing (Second edition) 312pp £24.99 Sage 9781473914285 1473914280

This second edition is aimed at undergraduate mental health nurses but would be informative for nurses who have recently entered the specialty.

Helping people on acute wards to stop smoking: Adrian and Martin Jones explore the reasons for heavy smoking on acute inpatient units, the risks associated with it and ways in which nurses can intervene to help patients stop

Helping patients to stop smoking tobacco will become more important when mental health inpatient units adopt smoke-free zones. But a change in the law should not be the driver to address this huge public health problem. Mental health nurses are in an ideal position to support patients seeking to abstain from or reduce their use of nicotine while they are in hospital, and to encourage continued abstinence following discharge. This article examines the number of fatal conditions associated with nicotine use and how mental health nurses can use prescriptive authority to support nicotine reduction programmes. We argue that nurse prescribers, suitably trained and skilled to administer behavioural and pharmacological interventions, will support efforts to help patients stop smoking.