Factors affecting knowledge of recovery-oriented practice amongst mental health nursing and medical staff working on acute mental health inpatient units

Over recent decades, the shift to recovery-oriented practice has been central to mental health policy. Despite this emphasis, mental health services can struggle to meet this expectation. This study explores the knowledge and attitudes in relation to the recovery-oriented practice of clinical staff working at an Australian acute inpatient mental health unit. The Recovery Knowledge Inventory (RKI) is a widely used self-report tool that assesses mental health professionals' knowledge and attitudes towards recovery; higher scores indicate higher levels of recovery knowledge and attitudes. Seventy-four staff members (44 nursing staff and 30 medical staff) completed the RKI via an online survey. The study has been reported according to the STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies. The relationships between the RKI scores and a range of variables were considered using inferential statistics, including multivariate regression. Medical staff had higher mean RKI scores than nursing staff, although this did not meet the predefined threshold for a clinically significant difference. More years of mental health experience were associated with increased mean RKI scores for medical staff. This Australian inpatient staff cohort demonstrated higher mean RKI scores than have been observed in recent international studies of mental health professions. However, the recovery knowledge and attitude levels were disappointingly similar to those shown in earlier Australian research completed over a decade ago. Efforts are needed to further enhance the recovery knowledge of clinicians working in mental health inpatient units.

Automated summary

This study examines the knowledge and attitudes towards recovery-oriented practice among clinical staff in an Australian mental health unit. Medical staff had higher scores than nursing staff, but the difference was not clinically significant. More years of experience were associated with higher scores for medical staff.