Nurses' views on training needs to increase provision of primary care for consumers with serious mental illness

It is consistently found that people diagnosed as having a serious mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia, exhibit a lower level of physical health than people without such diagnoses (Hardy & Gray, 2010; Jacobi et al., 2004; Park,Usher, & Foster, 2011). An improvement in access to and quality of healthcare services for people with SMI in, for example, mental healthcare services, is an important means of addressing this disparity. Nurses could improve physical healthcare access and quality. However, it is first necessary to understand their views and whether they feel equipped for such a role.The purpose of this paper is to discover nurses’ views on their preparedness to provide physical health care and, if applicable,their training needs.