Abstract
M.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing)
Psychiatric nursing forms part of basic nursing education in South Africa which is done in four years, either at diploma level or degree level. The psychiatric nurses are only trained in basic psychiatric nursing and are not well equipped to work effectively with children. Even though psychiatric nurses do not have enough skills and knowledge, it is expected of them to work in child psychiatric wards without adequate knowledge and skills. This creates discomfort to the internal environment of a nurse and the situation can be stressful to the nurse. Psychiatric nursing has two important components which are: supporting people at a reasonable level of functioning which they cannot maintain independently; and facilitating a higher level of functioning in people for whom this is possible.
Child psychiatry is one of the specialities in the psychiatric division. ‘The description of the practice of the professional nurse in the field of child psychiatry in South Africa is vague and undeveloped and there are only a few nurses in South Africa with knowledge and skills to set guidelines for this area of practice (Makhele, 2006:36)’.
Psychiatric nurses working in psychiatric hospitals undergo different experiences on a daily basis. In this research study, the researcher wondered as to what psychiatric nurses working with children diagnosed with mental illness, experience on a daily basis. The researcher then asks the following questions:
1. What are the lived experiences of psychiatric nurses working with children diagnosed with mental illness?
2. What can be done to assist the psychiatric nurses, working with children diagnosed with mental illness, in order to facilitate their mental health?
This research study was done to:
1. To explore and describe the lived experiences of psychiatric nurses, working with children diagnosed with mental illness; and
2. To formulate guidelines in order to facilitate these psychiatric nurses’ mental health.
In order to explore and describe the lived experience of psychiatric nurses who work with children diagnosed with mental illness, the researcher used a qualitative design. The researcher utilised phenomenology, in order to explore and describe the experiences of these psychiatric nurses in the context of their working environment. Purposive sampling method was used. In-depth phenomenological interviews were used to collect data. Tesch’s method in Creswell (2011: 113) of open coding was utilised for the analysis of the data. The results were re-contextualised within the literature. The findings of this study provided the detailed content of professional psychiatric nurses’ experience when working with children diagnosed with mental illness.
Two themes which were identified are:
1. Theme 1 A challenging experience associated with tensions inherent to the contextual demands of psychiatric nurses working with children diagnosed with mental illness.
2. Theme 2 Psychiatric nurses experience of contextual demands which requires a process of continuous adjustment
Guidelines on how to promote the mental health of psychiatric nurses working with children diagnosed with mental illness were derived from the research findings.
In conclusion, presently psychiatric nursing training appears to rely upon individual training institutions putting into practice government policy in a fragmented fashion with no cohesive strategy. Where psychiatric nurses receive good quality training which includes child psychiatry, it is clear that good quality and appropriate interventions to children with mental illness and emotional problems can be achieved.