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The Psychiatric Nurse Care Coordinator on a Multi-disciplinary, Community Mental Health Treatment Team

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Abstract

Community mental health nurses sometimes join multi-disciplinary teams, but the role has not been defined and studied carefully. This article describes the psychiatric Nurse Care Coordinator (NCC)—a unique position created to support care management, facilitate systematic medication management, and coordinate medical care in the Social Security Administration’s 30-site Supported Employment Demonstration. The authors reviewed the study’s NCC manual, supervised and consulted with the NCCs weekly over nearly three years, and reviewed data on NCC activities. Although the 984 participants assigned to NCCs experienced numerous mental health, substance use, and chronic medical conditions, only 59% completed intake assessments and engaged over time with NCCs. For those 581 participants, NCCs spent approximately 51% of their time helping with mental health issues, 35% on medical care, and 12% on substance use conditions. The NCC was critically important for complex, high-need individuals.

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Funding

The study was funded by the Social Security Administration (Contract #SS00-16-60014 to Westat). It was approved and monitored by the Westat Institutional Review Board. The study followed principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. WestBridge Recovery Center, Manchester, NH, USA

    Debra Bury & Delia Hendrick

  2. New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Thomas Smith

  3. Westat, Lebanon, NH, USA

    Justin Metcalf & Robert E. Drake

Authors
  1. Debra Bury
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  2. Delia Hendrick
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  3. Thomas Smith
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  4. Justin Metcalf
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  5. Robert E. Drake
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Contributions

DB provided training and monthly supervision to the nurse care coordinators, helped to collect all data, and participated in conceptualizing and writing the article. DH provided consultations to the nurse care coordinators on medical issues and participated in conceptualizing and writing the article. TS provided consultations to the nurse care coordinators on diagnostic and pharmacological issues and participated in conceptualizing and writing the article. JM managed and analyzed all data on nurse care coordinator activities and participated in writing the article. BD was co-PI on the Supported Employment Demonstration, oversaw the implementation team, and participated in conceptualizing and writing the article.

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Correspondence to Robert E. Drake.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Bury, D., Hendrick, D., Smith, T. et al. The Psychiatric Nurse Care Coordinator on a Multi-disciplinary, Community Mental Health Treatment Team. Community Ment Health J 58, 1354–1360 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-00945-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-00945-7

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