Abstract
The limited resources invested into the South African public mental health care system has implications for the quality of treatment offered to mental health care users (MHCUs) with dual diagnosis. With the high prevalence of MHCUs suffering from comorbid mental and substance use disorders, the public health care system is over-burdened. Additionally, a significant number of MHCUs do not receive comprehensive treatment. Nurses constitute the majority of health care professionals and are expected to provide efficient treatment at health facilities. This qualitative study was exploratory, contextual and interpretative and sought to explore the experiences of registered nurses (RNs) in treating MHCUs with dual diagnosis in public health care. Purposive sampling was used to obtain a sample that consisted of five RNs from a tertiary hospital in Johannesburg. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and seven superordinate themes resulted. The themes include: (1) Lack of safety within the ward; (2) Effects of patient violent behaviour; (3) Professional stigma; (4) Treatment non-compliance; (5) Compromised health care; (6) Devaluation of the RN; and (7) Alternative Treatment. This research highlighted the lack of safety on the psychiatric ward for both MHCUs and RNs, as well as the lack of training of RNs for the provision of effective dual diagnosis treatment to MHCUs in public health...
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)