HLT54115 Diploma Of Nursing

Introduction 

The healthcare organisations have always been concerned about the quality and the safety of the patients. Nurses form the major group of healthcare professionals in various healthcare areas. When a patient is admitted to the hospital, a nurse is assigned to the patient. Later, the nurse is in charge of the well-being of the patient. So the patient is in touch with the nurse most of the time he spends in the hospital. So it can be concluded that a nurse plays a huge role in the treatment process of the patient. This study focuses on the importance of the mental health of the nurses as a safety issue. The study also explores the implications of mental health by the nurses on the patients to improve the quality of service provided to the patients.

Background of the issue

Mental disease is a common problem among the Australian population as in one in five Australians faces some kind of mental problems. 45% of the population face lifetime mental disorders and 55% of the population faces curable mental diseases (Clement et al., 2015). So, there is a high chance that the nurses who are entrusted with the patient’s health care might be affected by any mental issues. The hospitals are required to arrange for some psychometric tests for the healthcare professionals to identify and understand their mental health. When it comes to the quality of the service, the patients who are admitted in the hospitals show signs of psychological issues (Hunter et al., 2015). In this scenario the nurses have to take care of the physical health along with the mental well-being of the patient to ensure complete recovery.

Many of the health professionals are sometimes stigmatised with the issue of mental health. In this case, they are not comfortable about talking about it to a psychologist or their colleagues. They are afraid that they might lose their jobs if their mental illness gets exposed. Healthcare institutions must ensure that their employees are aware of the various mental health issues and they must be provided with encouraging conditions to seek help.

Importance of the issue

The healthcare organisations have to keep up with the demand for quality of health care from the public and so they have to make reforms in various departments of the organisation. One such reform is addressing the mental health of the professionals serving in the organisation. The study concentrates on the mental health of the nurses which is a safety issue in healthcare facilities. Another problem which is being discussed is the effect of the mental health of the nurse on the recovery of the patient.

Summary of the problem

Critique Literature

Aims and objectives

The literature review has been undertaken to discuss the importance of monitoring the mental health of the healthcare professionals. The review explores the aspect of the mental health of the nurses as a key safety issue in healthcare organisations. The review also discusses the effects of the mental health of the nurse on the treatment procedure of the patient. The review aims to answer the following research questions, such as:

• How is the mental health of the nurses interfering with the treatment of the patient?
• How the quality of the service of a nurse is associated with their mental health?
• How is the patient affected by the mental health of their nurse?

Data sources: primary and secondary

The data used in the research can be derived using two sources: primary sources and secondary sources. The primary source is the derivation of information through direct surveys and interview with the nurses in various health organizations. On the other hand, the secondary data collection method contains information from authentic journals and articles (Clement et al., 2015).  In this research, the primary data collection method is used through an interview to derive information on the impact of the mental health of the healthcare professionals on the quality of the health service and the safety of the patients. The rest of the literature review was constructed based on the secondary sources of information.

Data techniques

In this study, the two data collection techniques are used: qualitative and quantitative data collecting techniques. The qualitative data is based on the intangible data collected from various interviews and surveys such as the reaction of the people (Townsend & Morgan, 2017). The qualitative data is subjective and is presented in explanations. The quantitative data contains various statistics and charts. It is objective and is presented in a structured manner.

The data used in the research was collected through an organized interview conducted with 20 nurses. They were asked several questions regarding their awareness of mental health and how they would deal with it in their workplace (Corrigan et al., 2014). Their opinions were also taken into account as how their mental health would affect the patient and how it can be treated as a safety issue.

Sampling 

The research has been conducted based on an interview with 20 nurses. Among the 20 nurses, 5 nurses belonged to the emergency department, 4 nurses from the psychiatric department, 7 nurses from the neonatal intensive care department and 4 nurses from the geriatric department. Both qualitative and quantitative type of data has been collected from the interview. Their interview was conducted based on a questionnaire related to the impact of mental health in their workplace. Besides that, they were also observed during their working hours.

Findings

The research has brought forward several facts about the effects of mental health of the nurses. A patient is supposed to spend most of their time in the hospital with their nurses. So, there is always some positive or negative impact on the patient based on the behavior of the nurse. According to Fortinash & Worret, (2014) a depressed nurse might be assigned to a patient who already has some signs of mental disorder. In this case, the patient is affected by the behavior or the conversation between the patient and his nurse. So, this adds on the depressing signs of the patient and also degrades the quality of health care provided by the hospital.  

The psychological issues might be a safety issue for the patient when the nurse has some severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia or any personality disorders. According to Lim, (2018) the nurses have anger troubles will also be a safety issue in the healthcare organization.

A healthcare organization can be benefitted in many ways if it looks after the mental health of its employees. The employees are expected to perform better, tend to be more concentrated, produce good quality of work and so on (Galvin et al., 2015).

Mental disorders in the employees of a healthcare organization can limit its productivity and degrade the quality of the work. The teamwork of the nurses can be disrupted endangering the safety of the patients (Katiria Perez & Cruess, 2014).

Conclusion 

The research contains a well-researched literature related to the issue of mental health being a safety issue. The research concludes that indeed the mental health of the nurses is responsible for the quality of service provided by the organization. To maintain a healthy work environment it is crucial to understand the mental health conditions of the employees. A positive working environment not only improves the productivity but also the quality is improved.

References

Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., … & Thornicroft, G. (2015). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological medicine, 45(1), 11-27.

Townsend, M. C., & Morgan, K. I. (2017). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care in evidence-based practice. FA Davis.

Corrigan, P. W., Druss, B. G., & Perlick, D. A. (2014). The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 15(2), 37-70.

Mårtensson, G., Jacobsson, J. W., & Engström, M. (2014). Mental health nursing staff’s attitudes towards mental illness: an analysis of related factors. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 21(9), 782-788.

Fortinash, K. M., & Worret, P. A. H. (2014). Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Hercelinskyj, G., Cruickshank, M., Brown, P., & Phillips, B. (2014). Perceptions from the front line: Professional identity in mental health nursing. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 23(1), 24-32.

Lim, E., Wynaden, D., & Heslop, K. (2018). Changing practice using recovery?focused care in acute mental health settings to reduce aggression: A qualitative study. International journal of mental health nursing.

Hunter, L., Weber, T., Shattell, M., & Harris, B. A. (2015). Nursing students’ attitudes about psychiatric mental health nursing. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 36(1), 29-34.

Galvin, J., Suominen, E., Morgan, C., O’Connell, E. J., & Smith, A. P. (2015). Mental health nursing students’ experiences of stress during training: a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 22(10), 773-783.

Katiria Perez, G., & Cruess, D. (2014). The impact of familism on physical and mental health among Hispanics in the United States. Health psychology review, 8(1), 95-127.