Appreciating the work of nurses caring for adults with intellectual disability and mental health issues

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study exploring the nurses' experience of caring for adults with intellectual disability and mental health issues in inpatient settings. Semi structured interviews were undertaken with 13 nurses from various regions of New Zealand. Methods suggested by an Appreciative Inquiry methodology were used to explore the nurses' positive experiences of their role. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using open coding and Leximancer (an online data mining tool) analysis to identify dominant themes in the discourse. Analysis revealed themes around 'Contextualising behaviour', 'Communication', 'Confidence to care' and 'Time'. Participants reflected upon their experiences offering personal interpretations in identifying the aspects of nursing that mattered and that worked. What is shown is that nurses were able to describe a range of creative and adaptive ways of nursing in responding to numerous complex factors they faced in their roles. This suggests a strong foundation on which to advance nursing care in this field.

Nurses' attitudes and emotions toward caring for adults with intellectual disabilities: Results of a cross‐sectional, correlational‐predictive research study

“…Outside of the United States, an international review of nurses' attitudes and emotions toward caring for adults with intellectual disabilities revealed mostly negative attitudes, influenced by challenges of communicating with adults with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers (Drozd & Clinch, ; Fisher et al, ; Sowney & Barr, ; Taua & Farrow, ; Taua, Neville, & Scott, ), increased time needed to provide care (Capri & Buckle, ; Ndengeyingoma & Ruel, ; Taua & Farrow, ; Taua et al, ); organizational factors (Capri & Buckle, ; Martin, O'Connor‐Fenelon, & Lyons, ; Ndengeyingoma & Ruel, ; Taua & Farrow, ), the belief that intellectual disability nurses should have the main role caring for adults with intellectual disabilities (Melville et al, ) and lack of knowledge and experience caring for adults with intellectual disabilities (Bailey et al, ; Fisher et al, ; Flynn, Hulbert‐Williams, Bramwell, Stevens‐Gill, & Hulbert‐Williams, ; Höglund et al, ; Ndengeyingoma & Ruel, ; Sowney & Barr, ; Taua & Farrow, ).…”

“…Nurses' emotions were also more negative toward caring for an adult with intellectual disability versus a physical disability (Flynn et al, ; Lewis & Stenfert‐Kroese, ). Non‐intellectual disability nurses reported emotions of fear (Bailey et al, ; Sowney & Barr, ), vulnerability (Sowney & Barr, ) and lack of confidence (Bailey et al, ; Höglund et al, ; Taua et al, ), providing care to adults with intellectual disabilities. Intellectual disability nurses described emotional conflict (Martin et al, ), characterized by emotions of pride and valuing of personhood and relationships (Doody et al, ), passion and investment (Martin et al, ), enthusiasm (Martin et al, ), and meaningfulness and gratification (Capri & Buckle, ), yet challenged by stress (Capri & Buckle, ; Martin et al, ), guilt, blame and demoralization (Martin et al, ), and physical and emotion depletion (Capri & Buckle, ).…”

The quandary of registered nurses untrained in adult intellectual disability nursing when caring for this diverse patient group in acute care settings: An integrated literature review

“…Extending on previous work in the acute mental health setting, Taua et al (2017) wished to explore only positive experiences to inform nursing practice on the role of nurses caring for a person with ID experiencing an acute mental health episode. The aim of the study by Taua et al (2017) was to explore best practice to better understand how nurses positively negotiated complex care in an inpatient mental health/ID setting.…”

“…Extending on previous work in the acute mental health setting, Taua et al (2017) wished to explore only positive experiences to inform nursing practice on the role of nurses caring for a person with ID experiencing an acute mental health episode. The aim of the study by Taua et al (2017) was to explore best practice to better understand how nurses positively negotiated complex care in an inpatient mental health/ID setting. In the background to the study, it was acknowledged that in this field of nursing, there were key skills specific to ID care such as knowledge of behavioural interventions, communication difficulties, advocacy, health promotion and medication management that were needed to respond adequately to people with ID and a co-morbid condition of mental ill health.…”

Sistematização da Assistência de Enfermagem para pessoas com deficiência intelectual em processo de envelhecimento: revisão integrativa / Systematization of Nursing Care for people with intellectual disabilities in the aging process: an integrative review

“…Os enfermeiros devem ter múltiplas habilidades para responder às necessidades das pessoas com DI. O trabalho de enfermagem voltado a essa população requer essa habilidade, por outro lado os enfermeiros necessitam desenvolvê-la para reconhecer a sintomatologia típica e atípica, entender e responder às diferenças de comunicação e reconhecer os impactos contextuais nas experiências de vida 5 .…”