Why it is crucial to invest in mental health nursing leadership on acute medical and surgical wards

Research shows that people with mental health problems have significantly worse medical and surgical outcomes. Compared with the general population, they have higher rates of readmission to acute, medical and surgical care (Hanrahan et al 2016), are more likely to be admitted to acute care by ambulance as an emergency rather than receive planned care (Reeves et al 2018) and have significantly longer rates of stay during non-psychiatric hospital admissions (Buller et al 2015). These stark figures underline the need to address the intersection between physical and mental health.