Nurses with mental illness: Their workplace experiences

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the workplace experiences of nurses who have a mental illness. The ultimate goal of the study was to gain insights that would lead to the development of more supportive environments for these nurses. Interviews were conducted with 29 nurses in New South Wales, Australia. The interview transcripts were subjected to discourse analysis. One significant finding was the theme 'Crossing the boundary - from nurse to patient'. This encompassed three sub-themes: 'Developing a mental illness', 'Hospital admission', and 'Being managed'. For most of the participants, being a nurse with a mental illness was largely a negative experience. Often, nurses without a mental illness actively sought to reform the participants' behaviour to enforce what was seen as appropriate conduct for a professional nurse. This paper shows how nurses in this study dealt with the early concerns associated with mental illness.

How Do “Mental Health Professionals” Who Are Also or Have Been “Mental Health Service Users” Construct Their Identities?

“…This study provides evidence for the dilemmas faced by professionals with service user experience, echoing existing literature from several countries, including the dilemma of disclosure (Schulze, 2007); the idea that professionals are or should be beyond distress (May, 2001;McCourt, 1999); negotiating the positive and negative impact of being a service user (Joyce et al, 2007); managing stigma, prejudice, and discrimination (Adame, 2011); and facing "them-andus" dichotomies (Adame, 2011(Adame, , 2014Schiff, 2004). This study provides evidence as to how these dilemmas may affect the identity construction of service user professionals, and suggests that in some contexts, they have "unintegrated" identities and switch between "professional" and "patient" depending on the discursive resources most salient in relation to those contexts.…”

“…This was represented by participants talking about others assuming them to be unable to do their jobs while unwell. Some felt they lost their "professional" identity when they became unwell, as documented by Joyce et al (2007). Some held the view that mental health services were not well equipped for professionals with mental health problems; some felt that professionals, including themselves, held negative views about such professionals; and some felt that awareness of their existence was lacking.…”

The web of silence: a qualitative case study of early intervention and support for healthcare workers with mental ill-health

“…They may be the first to notice changes in employee behaviors, and can have a significant impact on whether an employee is supported or discriminated against when they are unwell [6]. Studies in the nursing profession, for example, have revealed a phenomenon of ‘horizontal violence’ that can occur whereby nurses discriminate against colleagues who have an identified mental health problem [22,23]. Other key stakeholders in the workplace include union leaders, who can be an advocate for workers who are struggling with mental health issues, occupational health and wellness providers who are responsible for addressing employee health issues, and human resource staff who are responsible for addressing individual and organizational issues that impact work performance [24].…”

Nurses' perceptions of a mental health education programme for Australian nurses

“…In this paper, we present findings of an Australian qualitative study conducted during 2008. The stimulus for the present study was informed by the research literature exploring workplace support for nurses with mental health problems/or illnesses (Joyce et al . 2007).…”

“…2007). Clearly, there needs to be a shift in the way of thinking about what it means for a nurse to experience mental health problems (Joyce et al . 2007).…”