TITLE:
The feelings and thoughts of mental health nurses concerning the management of distressed and disturbed in-patients: A comparative qualitative European study
AUTHORS:
Vida Staniulienė, Mary Chambers, Xenya Kantaris, Raija Kontio, Lauri Kuosmanen, Anne Scott, Maria Antónia Rebelo Botelho, Renzo Zanotti, Maritta Välimäki
KEYWORDS:
Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Settings; Cognitive Dissonance; Coercive Interventions; Feelings Mental Health Nurse; Thoughts
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.3 No.6,
October
11,
2013
ABSTRACT: High levels of distress and
disturbance amongst those experiencing acute mental illness can be a major
problem for mental health nurses. The feelings experienced by these nurses
when caring for and supporting disturbed and/or distressed patients along
with their concurrent thoughts are not well described in the literature. To
date, this complex issue has not been explored within a comparative European context.
The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the feelings and
thoughts of mental health nurses when supporting and caring for distressed
and/or disturbed patients in 6 European countries. Methods: Focus groups were
used to collect data from 130 mental health nurses working in acute inpatient
psychiatric settings. Results: Data were analysed using content analysis.
Findings highlighted 6 broad themes: 1) Mixed emotions: expressive and responsive,
2) Procedure for caring for and supporting disturbed and/or distressed
patients, 3) Use of guidelines for caring and supporting disturbed and/or distressed
patients, 4) Team and organisational support, 5) Ethical concerns: Cognitive dissonance
and 6) Education and training. Commonalities and differences werefound
across all themes. Approaches to care, nurses’ role and education, clinical
guidelines and/or standards vary from country to country,
therefore the care, treatment and management of distressed and/or disturbed
patients are various. As a result, mental health
nurses have different experiences, various emotional quandaries
concurrent with cognitive dissonance and different coping strategies when caring
for and supporting distressed and disturbed patients. Conclusions: More
emphasis needs to be given to the emotional quandaries and concurrent cognitive
dissonance experienced by mental health nurses caring for distressed and/or
disturbed inpatients in acute psychiatric settings. Increased access to education
and training with particular attention to interpersonal communication and
relationship building within clinical teams needs to be a priority given the
experiences described by mental health nurses.