‘I can actually talk to them now’: qualitative results of an educational intervention for emergency nurses caring for clients who self‐injure

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: This Australian study evaluated the effectiveness of a solution-focused education intervention in extending and improving emergency nursing responses to patients who present because of self-injury. BACKGROUND: Emergency nurses commonly report lack of training and feeling unskilled in managing people who present because of self-harm. Most educational interventions have provided content knowledge, yet rarely have they focused on conveying the value of health promotion strategies such as proactive skills and coping strategies. DESIGN: A mixed method pretest-posttest group design was used. METHODS: Nurses (n = 36) were interviewed to examine differences in professional identity, awareness of self-injury and clinical reasoning. RESULTS: The qualitative results are presented in this paper and these showed improvements in knowledge and understanding of self-harm, self-belief in nurses' capacity to positively influence clients and the value of health promotion skills. The intervention produced a positive attitudinal shift towards clients and an expressed intention to act in ways that were more person-centred and change oriented. CONCLUSIONS: The solution-focused education intervention appears to show promise as an intervention for enabling nurses to value their unique contribution to providing a health service that is more proactive and health-promoting. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Interactive education bringing psychosocial skills to technical nursing staff builds confidence, competence and more person-focused care.