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Background Mental health nurse services have existed in Emergency Departments (ED) for many years. However, there is considerable variation in the way these services operate, and no standardised model of care has been articulated. Aim To evaluate an extended hours nurse practitioner-led mental health liaison nurse (MHLN) service based in an ED in Sydney Australia. Methods As part of a larger mixed-methods study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of ED patients and nursing, medical and psychiatry staff (N = 46). Newly recruited MHLNs were interviewed at the commencement and conclusion of the study period. This paper presents the qualitative component from the evaluation. Results The new service was met with high levels of approval by patients and staff. MHLN team members were challenged by their new role but considered the service reduced waiting times, provided therapeutic benefits, and enhanced communication and support for emergency staff. Conclusion A nurse practitioner-led extended hours MHLN service embedded within the ED team structure provides prompt and effective access to specialised mental health care for people with ‘undifferentiated health problems’ and removes a significant workload from nursing and medical staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on patient participant experiences of a larger randomised controlled trial evaluating a shared-care pathway intervention designed to support outpatients at home during their first three cycles of systemic anti-cancer therapies delivered in two large tertiary hospitals in Sydney, Australia. This qualitative study explores the perspectives of patient participants who received the intervention, which involved targeted home visits by community nurses post treatment administration. A qualitative inductive thematic analysis was used to examine data from semi-structured interviews with patients who received the intervention. Twenty-five patient participants were interviewed. We identified four themes: Stepping into the unknown; Impact of availability of health and social care support; Building confidence to manage self-care; Uncertainty, frailty and co-morbidities. Targeted support at home is seen to be effective and welcomed by patients as early stages of each treatment cycle can be extremely challenging, particularly for those who are elderly, frail or with co-morbidities, and for those with limited health and social support. Regular contact with community nursing services can, at least for some patients, support the development of patient self-efficacy in managing aspects of their own care. Some patients are sufficiently confident to self-manage some treatment side effects by treatment cycle four. • Little is known about optimum ways to support people in the days following administration of systemic anti-cancer therapies. • Paper reports on outpatient experiences of targeted community nurse home visits across first three cycles of treatment. • Patients experienced anxiety and uncertainty about treatment side effects andwelcomed advice and support from community nurses. • Patient confidence ito manage self-care increased over three cycles; those who were frail/had comorbidities needed further support. • Results will inform future targeted approaches to improving patient outcomes in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]