Can Mental Health Nurses diagnose in Australia?

Abstract

The naming of health related conditions has been the traditional province of the medical profession. Occasional concessions have been made in specific narrow domains, such as psychology or speech-related pathology, but diagnosis typically has been seen as medical practitioner business. "Ownership" of language is worthy of critical discussion. The answer to why the tradition has persisted, and nurses have invested lots of energy within the established rules of who can say what, may well be found through the lens of psycholinguistics. Nurses can name states of health and ill health using the currently accepted nomenclature. The authors argue that there is an unconditional "yes," to the question of can nurses diagnose, as long as they are not holding themselves out to be a medical practitioner by doing so. Additionally it is argued that advanced practice nurses must diagnose in order to fulfill their role as advanced practice clinicians.

Factors influencing clinical decision making used by mental health nurses to provide provisional diagnosis: A scoping review

“…In addition, one of the four articles found pertaining to diagnostic practice was authored by Australians (Cashin et al . ). By contrast, the UK articles adopted a broader approach identifying the nature and factors influencing CDM (Crook ; Welsh & Lyons ).…”

“…Diagnostic practice in nursing was identified in four papers (Cashin et al . ; Crowe et al . ; Lee et al .…”

“…However, the role and importance of diagnostic nursing practice remains under researched in general and mental health nursing with limited empirical evidence available (Cashin et al . ; Sands ).…”

“…Nurse practitioners are now involved in medical diagnostic practice alongside MHNs in the ED (Cashin et al . ; Lee et al . ).…”

Communication patterns in a psychotherapy following traumatic brain injury: A quantitative case study based on symbolic dynamics

“…"The basic structural components of language may be intact but the ability to use language to engage socially is impaired." [117] Deficits in the effective use of language following traumatic brain injury have been reviewed by Coelho [118] and by Coelho and Youse [119]. In addition to complicating therapy, these deficits can have a significant negative impact on post-injury quality of life.…”