Cries for help : emergency room nurses' perceptions and experiences treating individuals with mental health challenges

Upham, Laura M.

Brandon, Manitoba

Brandon University, Faculty of Health Studies

2021

vii, 111 pages

thesis

Includes bibliographical references (pages 84-98).
"In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Psychiatric Nursing."

English

Nurses are a patient’s initial point of contact upon presentation to hospital, giving emergency room (ER) nurses the earliest opportunity to provide their care and act as an entry point to mental health services. A negative experience in hospital based upon patient interaction with health care professionals is said to cause an increase in the risk of future non-compliance, non-cooperation, self-stigma, and shame. Several sources emphasize that individuals who receive mental health services do not always speak highly of health professionals. The reasons for this phenomenon appear to be due to a variety of factors; however, the current literature primarily identifies patient reports of feeling punished, patronized, and humiliated. Nurses—the largest group of providers in health care—have the ability to challenge this. This study explored the perceptions and experiences of ER nurses in Alberta, Canada in providing services to individuals with mental health challenges and utilized interpretive description methodology. This qualitative research study interviewed eleven ER nurses in an attempt to increase the understanding of how nurses could inform future direct patient care by better understanding their experiences and perceptions in treating individuals with mental health challenges. The findings, along with the implications for nursing education, have the potential to contribute to the direct patient care that can be informed by the research. The participants indicated that they chose to participate in the study so that their experiences could be heard by the greater nursing community. The recommendations put forward by the findings and implications of this research would provide sought-after help that nurses are begging for, which will provide great benefit and support to the system’s ER nurses, as well as inform direct patient care for how to best move forward and provide a healthier, restored, and all-encompassing patient-centred care model.

Emergency nursing--Alberta
Mentally ill--Medical care--Alberta

Brandon University
Faculty of Health Studies