Table 1 MEDLINE search strategy

i. Mental health nurs$ [mp] OR psychiatric nurs$ [mh,mp]

ii. Severe mental illness [mp] OR mental disorders [mh] OR mental illness [mp] OR schizo$ [mh,mp] OR bipolar disorder [mh] OR psychos?s [mp] OR psychotic [mp] OR psychotic affective disorders [mh] OR psychotic disorders [mh] OR psychotic depression [mp]

iii. Patient admission [mh] OR patient readmission [mh] OR hospital admission [mp] OR hospital readmission [mp] OR unplanned readmission [mp] OR hospitali?ation [mp] OR readmission rate [mp] OR length of stay [mh] OR emergency department presentation [mp] OR admission to home treatment [mp] OR access to crisis intervention [mp] OR drop-in treatment [mp] OR drop-in care [mp] OR drop-in unit [mp] OR drop-in centre [mp] OR home intervention [mp] OR home therapy [mp] OR home care services [mh] OR home management [mp]

iv. Observational study [mh] OR cross-sectional studies [mh] OR cohort studies [mh] OR longitudinal studies [mh] OR epidemiologic studies [mh] OR case-control studies [mh] OR controlled clinical trial [mh] OR randomized controlled trial [mh] OR non-randomised controlled trials as topic [mh] OR quasi-experimental study [mp] OR clinical trial [mh] OR comparative study [mh]

v. i AND ii AND iii AND iv