Caring for good people is difficult enough; to care for people who are either aggressive or violent is even more difficult. This is what psychiatric nurses working in the psychiatric institution in which research was done are exposed to on a daily basis. The aim of the research was to explore and describe the lived experience by psychiatric nurses of aggression and violence from patients in a Gauteng psychiatric institution. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual study design was utilised. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and naïve sketches. Tesch’s (Creswell, 2004:256) method of open coding and an independent coder were utilised for data analysis. This study shed some light on the lived experience by psychiatric nurses of aggression and violence from patients in a Gauteng psychiatric institution. The findings show that the level of violence and aggression to which psychiatric nurses are exposed is overwhelming and the consequences are alarming. The contributing factors to this violence and aggression are: the mental status and the conditions in which patients are admitted; the staff shortage; the lack of support among the members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT); and the lack of structured and comprehensive orientation among newly appointed staff members. As a result, psychiatric nurses are emotionally, psychologically, and physically affected. They then respond with the following emotions and behaviour: fear, anger, frustration, despair, hopelessness and helplessness, substance abuse, absenteeism, retaliation and the development of an “I don’t care” attitude.
Background‘The time I was hit nobody helped me. They (psychiatric nurses) just said: “you do not have to worry, you are not bleeding … in time you will see more”’. The core of the nursing profession is caring for those in need. However, when the psychiatric nurse (PN) is overwhelmed by aggression from the person cared for, the ideal of rendering quality patient care is compromised. There has to be a way to assist the PNs to manage aggression effectively in order to render quality patient care and improve PNs mental health.ObjectivesThe purpose of this article is to describe the process that was followed in developing, describing and evaluating a model that could be used as a framework of reference to facilitate the effective management of aggression as an integral part of the mental health of PNs.MethodsA theory-generative, qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study design was used to develop the model. The central concept was derived from the Masters’ research ‘The lived experience of aggression and violence by PNs in a Gauteng psychiatric institution’. The process entailed the identification of the central concept, the definition of the central concept and other essential criteria and the classification of the central and related concepts. The conceptual framework was then described and evaluated.ResultsThe central concept was identified and the ‘facilitation of effective self-management of aggression’ was described and evaluated.ConclusionThe conceptual framework may be able to assist PNs in managing aggression effectively, taking control of workplace environment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.