Experiences of Psychiatric Nurses Who Care for Patients with Physical and Psychological Violence: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

Introduction: The present study aims to understand the experiences and characteristics of nurses caring for patients with mental disorders characterized by aggressive behavior. Aim: The study aimed to understand and interpret the physical and psychological experiences and positive and negative aspects associated with nursing practices of patients with anger and aggressive behavior. Method: The participants of this study were twelve nurses with over three years of experience working in a mental hospital. More specifically, all our participants had experience caring for psychiatric patients with anger and aggressive behavior. The collected data were analyzed using the phenomenological analysis method and the procedure proposed by Colaizzi (1978). Result: The nurses’ experience was described in five categories: “fear of violence”, “exposure to a poor working environment”, “difficulty of emotional control”, “career regrets”, and “finding a solution to violence.” Discussion: The hospital should encourage and provide training sessions to teach nurses how to use proper intervention technique regarding medication and seclusion. Implications: The results of the present study suggest the need for ongoing hospital support and program development, intervention studies, and improvement of the work environment to resolve the burden of mental and physical difficulties experienced by psychiatric nurses.

The impact of the second victim's experience and support on the career success of psychiatric nurses: The mediating effect of psychological resilience

“…This result is consistent with that of previous studies (Al‐Hussami et al, 2018; Southward & Cheavens, 2018). A qualitative study (Sim et al, 2020) reported that psychiatric nurses, as the second victims, were prone to physical and psychological distress such as fear, anxiety, emotional exhaustion and fatigue after suffering workplace violence as well as a sense of career choice regret and could not establish a good nurse–patient relationship with the patients (Pazargadi et al, 2015). A previous study (Heckemann et al, 2015) reported that strengthening the nurses' abilities to predict and deal with workplace violence, improving the guidelines for the prevention of violence at medical workplaces and establishing and improving the norms for dealing with violence can be helpful in reducing the risks of injuries and protecting the legal rights of the medical staff.…”

Experiences of Violence and Treatment Of Aggression That Nurses Experience And See By Nurses In The Workplace: Literature Review

“…This study discusses violence against nurses, both nurses as victims and nurses as perpetrators. In this study, it was stated that nurses experienced physical violence in the form of being bitten, stoned, or even threatened with sharp weapons such as knives by patients (Sim et al, 2020). This makes nurses experience emotional stress that hurts feelings coupled with the position of nurses to get legal protection is more limited than patients make nurses can become perpetrators committed to victims.…”

Experiences of psychiatric nurses caring for mental healthcare users with a comorbid disorder

“…In addition, psychiatric nurses were often exposed to various attacks from MHCUs. According to Sim, Ahn and Hwang ( 2020 :10), psychiatric nurses are constantly exposed to repeated, unexpected physical violence, and such incidents cause psychiatric nurses to become angry and act violently towards their patients.…”