Public Health Nurse and interprofessional collaboration related to adolescent mental health problems

Abstract

Abstract Background Mental health problems among adolescents account for a large portion of the global burden of disease and affect 10 - 20 % of children and adolescent worldwide. The public health nurse in the school health services is in the forefront for adolescents and play an important role in providing mental health. In order to identitfy and help the adolescents in secondary school with mental health problems the public health nurses are dependent on collaboration with other professionals. The aim of this study was to describe the variation in public health nurses perceptions of interprofessional collaboration related to mental health problems among adolescents in secondary school. Methods This study has a qualitative design and individual interviews were analyzed with a phenomenographic approach. Eighteen public health nurses working in school health services, strategically selected from different counties, both urban and rural areas, were included to ensure variation in the phenomena. Findings The analysis resulted in three descriptive categories: ’The formal structure has an impact on the interprofessional collaboration’, ’The public health nurse is an important but not always self-evident partner in interprofessional collaboration’ and ’The primary players are the teachers in collaboratioń. Conclusions The findings demonstrated that public health nurses are important but not always included in interprofessional collaboration and they were dependent especially of teachers to achieve good collaboration. There were variations in how public health nurses perceived interprofessional collaboration from school to school, which may give the adolescents with mental health different services. The knowledge from this study may be essential to strengthen public health nurses positions and presence in the school health service, which will benefit the adolescents with mental health problems. Key messages The public health nurse need to work actively to be included in interprofessional collaboration. The public health nurse are dependent on teachers and principals to achieve good collaboration.