https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/54846 Sat, 18 Apr 2026 03:14:31 GMT 2026-04-18T03:14:31Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111307 Title: The effect on stigma on carers of people with mental illness Abstract: There is a plethora of nursing literature about stigma in mental illness, though there is a paucity of studies exploring stigma by association. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of carers of people with mental illness with regards to stigma towards mental illness, their perceptions with regards to stigma by association, whether they gained any beneficial effects and to outline the factors which help them deal with this perceived stigma. An exploratory and quantitative small scale survey design was undertaken. A self-administered questionnaire was used and a convenience sample of fifty carers of patients currently availing themselves of services from the state-owned hospital participated. Findings suggest that 72% of the participants agreed that mental illness is associated with stigma. Carers also agreed that their self-esteem and their relationship with family members were affected. However, as a family, these carers disagreed that they were treated differently because they had a mentally ill relative. 68% of the participants felt supported in carrying the burden of caring for their ill relative and only few reported mental health problems of their own. Blame and concealment was only reported by 40% of the carers. Support from family, information about mental illness, the new advances in treatment and care of mental illness were the most helpful factors reported by the carers. A small number outlines that talking with mental health professionals and interaction with other families as helpful. Media coverage on mental illness was found to be the least helpful. The beneficial effects reported by these carers were personal satisfaction, stronger relationships and increased knowledge. Recommendations based on these findings include involvement of these carers in the care planning of their relatives' illness; counselling and support for carers; informative campaigns to educate everyone about mental illness and the stigma related to it. Moreover, the results also suggests for further larger scale research incorporating more participants to give a broader view on the perception on stigma. Description: B.SC.(HONS)MENTAL HEALTH NURSING Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111307 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56007 Title: The nurses' attitudes and knowledge of self-injurious behaviour in children and adolescents Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' attitudes and knowledge towards self-harm in children and adolescents and to determine whether the nurses felt they were competent in providing adequate care towards youngsters with self-injurious behaviour. Incidence of self-harm in youngsters together with gender differences, reasons and methods of self-harm used by these youngsters were explored. Other issues of self-harm reviewed include attitudes of nurses together with children's views towards self-harm. Literature regarding consequences, education and prevention of self-harm are also reviewed. A total sample of thirty eight (n=38) nurses, who work in the local psychiatric hospital in Malta and come or have come in contact with youngsters that self-harmed have contributed in this quantitative study. A questionnaire formulated by the researcher was used for data collection. The majority of nurses in this study have shown reasonable knowledge and positive attitudes on certain aspects regarding self-harm. However the majority of nurses did not feel comfortable working with these youngsters and feel that they were not knowledgeable enough. Many nurses viewed self-harming behaviours as "attention seeking" whilst some nurses believed that self-harm is always due to a mental illness. Furthermore a rather low percentage knew that there is a clear difference between suicide and self-mutilation. Finally the majority of nurses claimed that the place they worked in was not safe enough for these youngsters. The study indicated the need for more research on the impact of knowledge and attitudes on the care given to these youngsters. Finally it is recommended that practice and not just classroom knowledge on self-harming youngsters is needed by nurses. Other recommendations were to increase staff-patient ratio in order for the nursing staff to have more time to care for these youngsters. More specialized child and adolescent psychiatric units should be available to cater for the need of all youngsters who require hospitalization. More education, practice and training to nurses who come in contact with youngsters who self-harm. Description: B.SC.(HONS)MENTAL HEALTH NURSING Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56007 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/55814 Title: Nurses' perceptions regarding the causes and management of aggression and violence : a quantitative study. Abstract: The aim of this study is to identify nurses' perceptions regarding the causes and management of patients' aggression and violence within an acute psychiatric setting. The objectives are to determine nurses' perceptions regarding contributory causes of aggression and violence and on ways of managing these behaviours in patients within an acute psychiatric ward setting. Furthermore, these perceptions were analysed by gender, age and years of nursing experience in a psychiatric setting. For this study a cross-sectional inferential design was utilized. Quantitative data was gathered by means of 'The Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale'- an instrument which has proven reliability and validity (Duxbury, 2003). The nurses working in an acute psychiatric setting (N=68) were invited to participate in this study. Fifty six nurses returned the completed tool to the present author, giving a response rate of 82.4%. The data collected was analyzed with the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)-version 18 and univariate statistical analyses -independent t-tests and one way ANOVA's were computed. Overall the findings in this study generally agreed with other studies carried out abroad. The results show that local nurses mainly perceive that characteristics relating to the actual illness (internal causes), the restrictive environment patients are in and poor therapeutic relationship between staff and patients as the main causes that may contribute to patient' aggression and violence. Perceptions that the patient's physical environment may influence his/her behaviour, is influenced by the nurses' age. Additionally, the nurses participating in this study agree that patient' aggressive and violent behaviour can be handled more effectively in the wards. They also agree that medication is a valuable approach to control such incidents. Maltese nurses also view seclusion as one of the most effective approaches in violent situations whilst they agree that the patients are physically restrained for their own safety. Negotiation between staff and patients and de-escalation techniques were perceived as the best approach to prevent aggressive and violent incidents. Following these findings, the present author made a number of recommendations such as in the area of clinical practice with the need for more human resources to enable staff to devote more quality time to the patient, enhancing the therapeutic relationship; in education the need for specialized staff training in diverse means of management strategies such as de-escalation techniques especially with the older nurses and those with a greater number of years of psychiatric nursing experience and in research by carrying out a longitudinal study to determine how nurses perceptions may vary over time within a mental health setting. Description: B.SC.(HONS)MENTAL HEALTH NURSING Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/55814 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/55813 Title: The perception of 'recovery' by professionals working in a mental health rehabilitation setting. Abstract: The purpose of the study was to explore the 'perception' of recovery by professionals working in a mental health rehabilitation setting in a state mental health service whilst the objectives were to establish their understanding of the subject and what may have improved or hindered the process. No previous national research was found considering this topic and the literature review relied heavily upon studies from other countries. Through the use of a non exploratory, descriptive research design, 63 mental health professionals (nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, occupational therapists and psychologists) participated in the study by completing a structured self administered 31- item questionnaire, constructed and piloted specifically for this research. These were distributed by a link person within the different clinical areas thus reducing selection bias and increasing anonymity. The results indicated that participants had a positive approach to the recognition of recovery as a way to deal with the delivery of mental health rehabilitation services. Nevertheless, participants were less competent in promoting healthy risk taking with clients. This finding is noteworthy because therapeutic risk taking is regarded as a vital element in clinical recovery especially in rehabilitation settings. Rehabilitation professionals need to motivate and assist clients in recovery by exploring their attitudes and approaches to a recovery model of care. However, the study found that staff emphasized the significance of tailor-made, holistic and multi-disciplinary care plans to meet individual needs Several recommendations were made based on the conclusions of the study. These include increased educational awareness for staff about recovery, more detailed longitudinal research into the topic, including involving clients within the sample, new care planning systems to increase client involvement and more interprofessional collaboration to increase care efficiency and quality. Description: B.SC.(HONS)MENTAL HEALTH NURSING Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/55813 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z