Indian primary care providers’ experiences of empowerment in mental health nursing Through telemedicine

Background: Telemedicine is an emerging health care technology in India. The success and utilization of any new technology depends on several contributing factors such as knowledge, awareness of the concept, competencies, and attitude towards technology by the concerned health care professionals. Objectives: The main aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, skills as well as perceived advantages and barriers of telemedicine among the primary care providers working in District Mental Health Program (DMHP), Karnataka, India. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among nurses working in DMHP who participated in an onsite training program at NIMHANS. A pre-validated, self-administered questionnaire of Nurses Experience with Empowerment through Telemedicine (NEET) was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and skills of the nurses after attending 16 monthly telemedicine sessions. Open ended questions were used to explore their perception about the advantages and barriers towards telemedicine. Results: Majority of the subjects gained adequate knowledge (93%) through telemedicine session, had positive attitude (97.67%) towards telemedicine and confidence (93%) in identifying, managing and referring the patients with mental illness. Content analysis revealed that gaining knowledge, identification of mental illness and its management were the most common positive experiences while technical disturbances or internet problem and time constraint were some barriers perceived by the nurses. Conclusion: Nurses working in remote areas can be equipped and educated through telemedicine to make strong contribution to nursing and health services. Thus, empowering nurses through telemedicine can become a powerful strategy to bridge the treatment gap for mental health issues in a developing country like India.