BACKGROUND: There is no clear treatment pathway for people presenting to Australian emergency departments with deliberate self-harm.
PURPOSE: To explore variations in mental health nurses' disposition decisions for patients following risk assessment for deliberate self-harm. DESIGN AND METHOD: A survey was distributed to mental health nurses. This survey comprised demographic items and questions in response to nine vignettes describing episodes of deliberate self-harm. Dispositional decision and reasoning were also sought for each vignette.
FINDINGS: Poor levels of agreement for disposition were found. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: There was a lack of consensus regarding dispositional outcomes. This suggests a high level of subjectivity in decision-making which needs to be taken into account within clinical governance.