Support interventions for nurses working in acute psychiatric units: A systematic review

Diverse support interventions have been implemented to provide support for nurses working in acute psychiatric settings. These interventions aimed at modifying the psychological and social factors, as they either prevent stress responses or reduce its effects to improve the psychological well-being of staff. This study aimed to examine effective stress reduction interventions for nurses and to identify key elements of these successful interventions. Studies included in this review were conducted in acute psychiatric settings. A comprehensive search of electronic databases was conducted for support intervention studies between 2010 and 2021. The search yielded 315 studies that were reduced to seven studies after being reviewed by two independent reviewers. The studies were coded, and key elements were identified. Seven studies that were included consisted of a randomised controlled trial, quasi-experimental design and single-group design. Interventions included mindfulness-based stress reduction, burnout prevention programmes, communication skills, educational programme, group intervention, resilience training programme and stress management. Four key elements emerged from these interventions, namely, educational support, interpersonal skills, psychological support and adaptive coping. The findings highlighted the diverse interventions in supporting psychiatric nurses to cope with stress. However, there is a dearth of studies in acute psychiatric settings that were mostly done in emergency settings. Knowledge gained from this review may assist with practice improvement as managers can implement the identified interventions.

The Experiential World of the Oncology Nurse

In her1 experiential world; the oncology nurse experiences unique; challenging and rewarding relationships in a multidimensional; dynamic way. The aim of this study was to describe; from her viewpoint and perspective; how she experiences and reacts to this world. Through this study the researcher wants the oncology nurse's voice to be heard; the richness of her story acknowledged and the derived data to be applied to the benefit of the field of oncology. In-depth; unstructured phenomenological interviews provided the saturated data from which the uniqueness of the world of the oncology nurse unfolded as the uniqueness of the oncology patients and their world emerged clearly. Findings show that the oncology nurse; attending to the cancer patients and their family; experiences many different relationships. The uniqueness of the oncology nurse-patient relation-ship is described as unlike any other nurse-patient relationship. The challenging interpersonal relationships with management and other members of the multiprofessional team; as experienced from the perspective of the oncology nurse; are also highlighted. Furthermore; a unifying intrapersonal relationship with the self was identified. This enables the oncology nurse to be both on the giving and receiving end of the intensely emotional environment she works in; explaining; at least partly; the high job satisfaction that permeated the interviews in this study. Recommendations for nursing practice; education and research were formulated

The Professional Nurse's Experience of Dying Process of Terminal AIDS Patient

The increase in HIV/AIDS raises international concern. Statistics indicate that South Africa has the fastest increasing HIV-infection rate in the world. Secondary infections complicate the issues and could result in hospitalisation and death of terminal AIDS patients. Nurses are increasingly exposed to this process. This directed the researchers to explore and describe the nurse's experience of the dying process of the terminal AIDS patient through a qualitative research design. Purposive; voluntary sampling was conducted followed by individual interviews. Data saturation was reached after 10 interviews. The data were then analysed involving a co-coder to ensure trustworthiness. The results indicated specific themes. Firstly; nurses experience that various factors influence the pace of the dying process. Secondly; contrasting experiences regarding medical treatment of these patients surfaced. The study indicated that the nurse experienced emotions such as powerlessness; relief and fear. Finally; the needs and behaviours of the terminal AIDS patient; and the specific behaviours of the nurses were revealed. Value judgements regarding the patient; his family; medical treatment and the nurse's conduct during the dying process were also noted. Recommendations focus on the following: nurses' personal coping with the dying process; extended coping skills in the guidance of terminal AIDS patients and their handling of specific themes during the dying process.regarding the patient; his family; medical treatment and the nurse's conduct during the dying process were also noted. Recommendations focus on the following: nurses' personal coping with the dying process; extended coping skills in the guidance of terminal AIDS patients and their handling of specific themes during the dying process

Nurses Perceptions of Difficult Patients

The purpose of this article was to explain and describe how professional nurses in the health services experience difficult patients. A qualitative; descriptive research design was adopted. Data were collected by means of narratives; written by professional nurses who met the sampling criteria. The data analysis was done according to the protocol suggested by Tesch. Four major categories were identified. The first major category; namely patient factors; brought the following sub-categories to the fore : physical aspects and appearance; psychological factors; attitude factors; social factors and knowledge of the patient. The second major category; namely nursing factors; includes the following sub-categories : skills and experience; training and attitude. The third category; namely the situational factor; exists of the sub-category management; while the fourth category exists of one sub-category; namely that difficult patients do not exist. A literature control was done to verify the results. Conclusions and recommendations were made