Empathy, Burnout, and Attitudes towards Mental Illness among Spanish Mental Health Nurses

Mental health nurses, together with psychiatrists, are the healthcare professionals who display the highest levels of empathy and the best attitudes towards patients with mental disorders. However, burnout is a common problem among these professionals. The aim of our study is to describe the association between empathy, burnout, and attitudes towards patients with mental disorders among mental health nurses in Spain. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used involving a sample of 750 specialist nurses working in mental health facilities in Spain. An intentional, non-probability, non-discriminative, exponential snowball sampling method was used. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness Inventory were used to measure the study variables. A positive correlation was observed between empathy and all the study variables, with the exception of the personal accomplishment dimension of burnout and the social restrictiveness and authoritarianism dimensions of attitudes towards mental illness, where a negative relation was observed. Our findings suggest that empathy is associated with an increase in positive attitudes towards patients with mental disorders, decreasing associated stigma, but did not act as a protective factor against burnout in the study sample.

Religiosity and spirituality in mental health: nurses’ training, knowledge and practices

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze nurses’ training, knowledge and practices in the religiosity/spirituality interface in the context of Psychosocial Care Centers. Methods: a descriptive, exploratory, qualitative study, carried out in a metropolitan region of Ceará. Four nurses were interviewed, and the data were examined using the content analysis technique. Results: four categories emerged from analysis: Deficit in teaching religious and spiritual practices in higher education in nursing; View of the concept of religiosity and spirituality; Religiousness and spirituality as an integral part of the person; Reception of religious and spiritual practices as an aid to treatment. Final considerations: a deficit in nursing undergraduate teaching was identified concerning religiosity and spirituality. However, the interviewed professionals understand the importance of religious and spiritual dimensions in the therapeutic process, even though they do not accurately differentiate the concepts.

Vicarious Traumatization: The Impact of Nursing upon Nurses

<p>The aims of this research were to explore mental health nurses' knowledge and experience of vicarious traumatization (VT). Literature linking mental health nursing and VT is sparse. VT is an enduring trauma that affects those who engage empathically across time and with different patients. Mental health nurses form ongoing therapeutic relationships with patients to foster healing. This empathic engagement leaves nurses vulnerable to VT. This project is qualitatively designed using narrative enquiry with in-depth, semistructured interviews of mental health nurses. Data gathered was thematically analysed and four main themes identified: the impact of VT; self-knowledge/self-awareness; self-care; and burnout. Participants in this study felt unprepared for the negative impact of mental health nursing and learned of VT 'on the job'. My recommendations include education on identifying VT, and self-care, including clinical supervision, to ameliorate the effects of VT. Further research is needed to explore the links between VT and mental health nursing.</p>

St. Vincent's Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre: an Evaluation of a Nurse-Led Service

<p>Australia, like many other countries that adopted deinstitutionalisation is experiencing increased presentation at emergency departments (EDs) by patients with acute mental health and addiction needs. While different models of psychiatric emergency care have been utilised within EDs little is known about the effectiveness of the care provided or how they work on a day-to-day basis. Psychiatric Emergency Care Centres (PECCs) is one of these new initiatives. PECCs aim to improve patient flow in urban EDs by providing a rapid pathway to specialist mental health assessment and care. St Vincent hospital in Sydney opened a 6 bed PECC service in 2005. It is co-located with ED and staffed 24 hours a day by registered mental health nurses supported by psychiatric and emergency teams. The service has two components - a short term stay unit and an ED liaison role. The nurses work closely with community mental health teams, inpatient units, general practitioners, non-government agencies and other hospitals. This thesis evaluated the organisational and operational aspects of this PECC service using a processimpact evaluation. Documents, existing clinical records and interviews with nurses in the PECC and ED and with a consumer representative were used as data sources to describe the service and identify what was working well and what could be improved. The research found that the service has provided additional resources and collaboration between ED and mental health services. In addition the research found that PECC is an effective service catering to the needs of consumers and providing access to mental health specialist clinicians. Since PECC was established there has been an increase in assessments conducted within the ED and an increase in the numbers presenting to ED for mental health reasons from 2833 in 2006 to 4987 in 2008, but the number of admissions to PECC have remained relatively stable at 693 and 714. Aspects of the service that worked well included the rapid assessment and management of acutely unwell people by the PECC nurses. Aspects that were problematic concerned the ability of the service to address social issues and the management of people with behavioural, alcohol, substance intoxication or selfharm behaviours. Areas for enhancing the service include being more consumers responsive, increasing the skills and knowledge of staff and undertaking further research regarding the needs of people who use the service.</p>