Nursing staff ‐led behavioural group intervention in psychiatric in‐patient care: Patient and staff experiences

Abstract A promising intervention in mental health in‐patient care is behavioural activation (BA). Interventions based on BA can be used by mental health nurses and other staff members. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients’ and staff members’ experiences of a nursing staff‐led behavioural group intervention in mental health in‐patient care. The intervention was implemented at three adult acute general mental health in‐patient wards in a public hospital setting in Sweden. A self‐administrated questionnaire, completed by 84 patients and 34 nurses and nurse assistants, was administered, and nonparametric data analysed using descriptive statistics. Our findings revealed that both patients and nursing staff ranked nursing care and care environment as important aspects in the recovery process. Patients and staff members reported overall positive experiences of the group sessions. Patients with higher frequencies of attendance and patients satisfied with overall care had a more positive attitude towards the intervention. A more positive experience of being a group leader was reported by staff members who had been leading groups more than ten times. The most common impeding factor during implementation, reported by staff members, was a negative attitude to change. Conducive factors were having support from a psychologist and the perception that patients were showing interest. These positive experiences reported by patients and nursing staff, combined with prev...
Source: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing - Category: Nursing Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research