Mental Health Risk Assessments of Patients, by Nurses Working in Mental Health Settings: A Qualitative Study Using Cognitive Continuum Theory.

Mental health risk-assessments are an important part of nursing in mental health settings, to protect patients or others from harm. Even so, nurses often have difficulty identifying patients posing a credible risk (either to self or others), so guidance is recommended. However, despite an extensive and growing body of risk-oriented literature, comparatively little expands upon contemporary knowledge of nurses and patient risk assessment. Therefore, it remains unclear how nurses understand risk and undertake their risk assessments. To address this knowledge gap in nurses' decision-making processes, this study used the established Cognitive Continuum Theory as a novel means to explore the risk-assessment of patients by nurses working in mental health settings.