Outback and Out-Of-Whack: Nurses A Frontline Opportunity For The Early Identification of Early Psychosis in Rural Communities

The slow slide into a first episode of psychosis is often difficult to see coming, and is often described in retrospect as the point at which things were not quite right. A rural setting and fewer specialist services in the local community can add an extra level of complexity in detecting early psychosis. Nurses are often well placed in their local rural community, within the context of health services to identify emerging psychosis in the population of young people with whom they have contact. Supporting and resourcing these generalist nurses could usefully add to the capacity for early detection of psychosis in rural communities. In addition rural communities have local structural issues (and disadvantages) which may further complicate both identification and early treatment of psychosis. This paper explores these issues in Northern New South Wales, Australia.