Background: Health is more than just absence of illness. In 2019, 970 million people worldwide were living with some form of mental health condition. Nurses have a significant role in providing care and support to people with mental health problems who visit emergency departments. To provide adequate care for these people, increased knowledge about nurse’s experience of caring for people with mental health problems in emergency departments is required.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses' experiences of caring for adoult people with mental illness in the emergency department.

Method: This is a general literature review structured using Polit and Beck’s nine-step model. Systematic searches of qualitative articles were conducted in the databases PubMed and Cinahl, where nine scientific articles were included and analyzed using Braun and Clake thematic analysis with an inductive approach.

Result: The study identified two themes followed by five sub-themes. Under the main theme of organizational challenges in nursing, subthemes were identified as lack of knowledge, healthcare environment and lack of time. Under the main theme of nursing meetings, subthemes were identified as challenges in communication and emotional experiences.

Conclusion: Nurse’s experiences highlighted that increased competence about mental health and improved care environments in emergency departments can facilitate the care of people witch mental illness. Lack of knowledge affects nurse’s confidence in their own abilities and impacts on nursing.

Investigation of nurses' experiences of caring for people with mental illness in emergency departments after nurses have undergone training is a suggestion for continued research.