Safety, risk, and aggression: Health professionals’ experiences of caring for people affected by methamphetamine when presenting for emergency care

Consumer aggression is common in acute mental health settings and can result in direct or vicarious psychological or physical impacts for both consumers and health professionals. Using recovery-focused care, nurses can implement a range of strategies to reduce aggression and empower consumers to self-regulate their behaviour, when faced with challenging situations, such as admission to the acute care setting. Currently, there is limited literature to direct nurses in the use of recovery-focused care and how it can be used to reduce consumer aggression. Twenty-seven mental health nurses participated in this study. The constructivist grounded theory method guided data collection and analysis to identify categories that accurately described participants' experiences. Five categories emerged that described how nurses can implement recovery-focused care clinically to reduce the risk of consumer aggression: (i) identify the reason for the behaviour before responding; (ii) being sensitive to the consumer's trigger for aggression; (iii) focus on the consumer's strengths and support, not risks; (iv) being attentive to the consumer's needs; and (v) reconceptualize aggression as a learning opportunity. As the importance of promoting consumer recovery is now embedded in mental health policies internationally, nurses need to prioritize the application of recovery-focused care clinically. Further research to provide evidence-based outcomes supporting the use of recovery-focused care is needed.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Changing practice using recovery‐focused care in acute mental health settings to reduce aggression: A qualitative study

Lim

Wynaden

Heslop

2018

“…This was facilitated by annotating the text with provisional ideas (Usher et al . ). Codes were arrived at independently which were jointly reviewed and agreed by the authors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sensory strategies in adult mental health: A qualitative exploration of staff perspectives following the introduction of a sensory room on a male adult acute ward

Forsyth

Trevarrow

2018

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the use of sensory techniques to help with emotional regulation in adult mental health populations. This is against a backdrop of international policies aimed at reducing restrictive interventions and improving the effectiveness of de-escalation techniques. A sensory room was designed and implemented on a male adult acute psychiatric ward. Staff perspectives were sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the room in managing emotional distress by exploring staff awareness of a broader range of de-escalation strategies and by exploring what effect the room had on staff behaviours with respect to sensory interventions. A series of semi-structured interviews were carried out, analysed, and grouped into themes. Three themes emerged as follows: enhancing de-escalation, sensory interventions, and impact on staff. Findings showed that increased awareness of sensory processing and use of sensory strategies such as the sensory room were perceived by staff to have a positive impact on reducing distress with male service users. Staff use of the room was also discovered to have benefits that included staff attending to their own emotional needs and the use of the room supporting reflective learning during critical incident debriefing.

“…; Usher et al . ). However, until now, the people most concerned with users have been largely ignored, while excessive ice‐use can not only devastate the lives of individuals but also of their families.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Usher et al . ). The last year the media also started to cover the difficulties that ice‐use hold for families and communities, with growing realisation of its significant ramifications (Verghis ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Gaps in the ice: Methamphetamine in Australia; its history, treatment, and ramifications for users and their families

Gordon

Jong

2018

It is now well-established that Australia has a significant issue with methamphetamine. Recent dramatic changes in manufacturing have led to significant shifts in both the patterns of use and the relative purity of this illicit drug, with the crystalline form of methamphetamine commonly referred to as 'ice'. Excessive use not only impacts on those taking the drug, but also takes a heavy toll on their families. With few effective treatment options currently available, there is a strong focus on developing replacement pharmacotherapies and examining the efficacy of outpatient counselling and residential treatment options. Recent research in addiction care supports the positive impact that families of users can have on both treatment and recovery for their loved ones. Despite this recognition, there is little current research looking at the experiences of families of users of the uniquely problematic drug methamphetamine. This paper outlines the historical narrative that has led to the current worldwide phenomenon of ice use and explores contemporary directions of research into its impact and potential treatments. In doing so, it outlines the relatively unexplored impact of ice on families and highlights a current need for nursing research into their experiences living with loved ones using the drug.