Factors contributing to difficulty with psychiatric disorder among junior medical staff

Abstract

Objective: This study examines the attitudes and difficulties that junior medical staff, working in the emergency department of a teaching hospital, have in relation to psychiatric disorders. Method: Systematic textual analysis of nine in-depth interviews.Results: Three major categories identified were emotional difficulty with patient interaction, uncertainty and pessimism. Conclusion:Those doctors able to self reflect and adjust their level of emotional distance appropriately had less emotional difficulty interacting with psychiatric patients. They were also more comfortable in dealing with the issue of uncertainty associated with psychiatric disorder. There was a worrying level of pessimism regarding prognosis in psychiatric disorder.

General practitioners’ beliefs about people with schizophrenia and whether they should be subject to discriminatory treatment when in medical hospital: The mediating role of dangerousness perception.

“…These stereotypical views of PWS, particularly the irreversibility of the condition, are reinforced by promotion of a biogenetic model of this disorder (Kvaale, Gottdiener & Haslam, 2013;. These stereotypes can have important effects on clinical practice and doctor-client relationships Happell et al 2012;Henderson et al, 2014;Solar, 2002;Ucok et al, 2006). It has been reported that the presence, or even the suspicion, of a mental illness had a negative impact on hospital staff attitudes toward patients (Liggins & Hatcher, 2005), and that complaints of physical problems by psychiatric patients made the staff feel uncomfortable in dealing with those clients.…”

Mental health and alcohol and other drug training for emergency department workers: One solution to help manage increasing demand

“…Lack of confidence in working with this group of patients is partly responsible for the negative attitudes. [6][7][8] Such negative attitudes not only produce a lesser standard of care for patients but also present an obstacle to possible change in service delivery policy and practice. Similarly, staff working in general hospital systems report working with patients with drug/alcohol problems to be more difficult and unpleasant and that this dissatisfaction stems mainly from insufficient knowledge and training.…”

“…More has been written about negative attitudes of staff, and Westwood 1 cited a number of studies that discuss the difficulties that emergency staff have in interacting with mental health patients, such as stereotyping and labelling patients that leads to the dismissal of patients’ needs as not important, and avoidance behaviours by staff that result in increased delay in providing care. Lack of confidence in working with this group of patients is partly responsible for the negative attitudes 6–8 . Such negative attitudes not only produce a lesser standard of care for patients but also present an obstacle to possible change in service delivery policy and practice.…”

Risk factors of the stigma towards psychiatric patients among primary healthcare workers in China: a county study

“…In China, most of the medical schools did not have enough medical humanity education, and that led to the unbalanced development of medical students’ medical skill and the capability to be empathetic, and this influence will continue to exist when they go to work. And it might cause the tense relationship between healthcare workers and patients [ 34 ]. On-the-job training has been a necessity in achieving integrated primary care for mental health [ 38 ].…”