Patients' experiences and perceptions of clinical interactions with nurses in an acute mental health care setting

Abstract

An individual, who is experiencing a mental health crisis and has to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital, is in a vulnerable position and in need of concrete professional support. Nurses have a crucial role in providing this support and have a high degree of control in establishing a therapeutic environment and demonstrating a facilitative clinical interaction with these patients. The aim of this study was to explore how patients experienced and perceived the nurse-patient interactions during their hospitalisation in a local acute psychiatric setting. The objectives of the study sought to identify patients' views on: effective nurse-patient interactions; satisfaction of these interactions; interactions impacting on their health outcome and nurses' characteristics that may have influenced the effectiveness of the interaction. An exploratory qualitative study design was utilised under the guidance of a phenomenological approach. A purposive sample of ten patients who were discharged from hospital was selected for this study. Data was collected through audio-taped, semi-structured interviews. The interview schedule was developed by the researcher after a thorough literature search pertaining to the topic under study. The data was analysed using the process of thematic analysis. The results show that most of the participants perceived both positive and negative experiences. Analysis of data revealed five major themes, namely, "the patients' first encounter with the nurse" "nurses' approach" "satisfactory nurse-patient interactions" "unsatisfactory nurse-patient interactions" and "experiences impacting on the patients' health outcome". Findings concluded that all patients viewed their first encounter with the nurse with a positive, long-lasting impression even though the following encounters with some nurses may not have been so therapeutic. The recommendations emerging from the discussion of findings focused mainly on enhancing therapeutic nursing practice. This may be done by developing consistent guidance with the aim of improving quality and consistency of care.