Abstract:

Morbidity and mortality rates among chronic psychiatric patients are higher than the rates in the general population are, and these patients have a lower life expectancy. These patients' physical health is impaid due to the following reasons: disease-related factors such as drug side effects, neglect of physical symptoms and lack of compliance, lifestyle behaviors such as poor diet, smoking, alcohol and drug use, and lack of physical activity and hygiene factors, and environmental factors. Many of these patients lose their lives due to cardiovascular diseases or metabolic complications. When care is provided for psychiatric patients, only psychological problems are focused on, but physical symptoms are neglected. In other countries, in line with the results of research, various tools have been developed to monitor chronic psychiatric patients, and intervention programs aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors have been conducted in order to improve their physical health. On the other hand, in our country, studies of this kind are very few, and the ones available are usually descriptive researches. In psychiatry clinics, psychiatric nurses mostly provide psychiatric care for patients, and patients' physical health is not considered among psychiatric nurses' responsibilities. Psychiatric nurses are responsible for taking preventive measures against physical diseases and developing healthy lifestyle behaviors through intervention programs such as early diagnosis, exercise and diet. It is thought that this review will provide an important contribution to the nursing literature in our country since it is a study focusing on physical health of psychiatric patients in the nursing field and that it will increase nurses' awareness regarding their responsibilities in this area

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