The first part of this series (JCN, 28(5): 30–32) provided the background to the study, which used semi-structured interviews with 18 nurses based in Afghanistan during 2013 to focus on factors affecting the delivery of mental health care in the field. This, the second part of the series, details the results of the study in the form of analysis of the interviewees’ verbatim transcripts. The study offers an insight into the role of deployed mental health nurses and examines some of the challenges they face. The findings demonstrate that managing the mental health of armed forces personnel on an operational deployment requires the ability to develop trusting relationships, identify factors leading to stress, and help staff to feel supported.
To help the British armed forces minimise mental health problems while undertaking military duties, operational psychological support is provided by military mental health nurses. This series of two articles is part of the first qualitative research completed in Afghanistan by British armed forces into the effectiveness of the military mental health nursing role. The authors aim to increase understanding of the factors that affect the delivery of nursing care during an operational deployment, including educational and clinical competency, multiprofessional and multinational boundaries, and the challenges of providing nursing care for both military personnel and local nationals. This article, the first of the two-part series, looks at the set up of the study, while the second article (featured in the next issue of JCN) will look at the study findings.
