A Model to capacitate nurses in caring for mental health care users in general wards, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa, professional nurses are expected to provide holistic care to all the patients including the Mental Health Care Users (MHCUs). During their allocation in general wards, they are expected to provide holistic care to MHCUs without training in psychiatry. The purpose of the study was to capacitate professional nurses with no psychiatry training in caring for MHCUs admitted in general wards in Limpopo Province. A qualitative approach using explorative, descriptive and contextual design was adopted for the study. The study was guided by Bloom’s Taxonomy of teaching and learning theory, (2001. The study was done in two phases. Phase one was situational analysis which included the setting, population, sampling, ethical considerations and the measures to ensure trustworthiness. A sample of two general hospitals with mental health care wards, medical unit and surgical unit was selected through simple random sampling from the entire target population. Two regional hospitals were selected through purposive sampling. A sample of 20 professional nurses was selected through convenience sampling. Individual interviews were used to collect data from participants. Pre-testing was done in one general hospital, using two professional nurses who did not form part of the study. Data was analysed using Tesch’ s method. Credibility, dependability, conformability and transferability was upheld to ensure trustworthiness. Ethical considerations were adhered to throughout the study. Themes that emerged after data analysis were: Managing psychiatric patients, Types of patient’s behaviour, Emotional experiences of nurses, Knowledge and skills deficit and training needs. The concept training emerged from the findings and was analysed using (Rodger and Knafl, 1993) steps and six elements of practise theory by Dickoff et al, (1968). Findings from phase one and literature control formed the basis for phase two, which was developing a model to capacitate professional nurses in caring for MHCUs in general wards. Model development was guided by Dickoff, James and Wiedenbach, (1968)’s theory for model development and was based on the findings of phase one. The developed model to capacitate professional nurses in caring for MHCUs in general wards was evaluated by a cohort group of v research of the University of Venda, faculty of health sciences which was purposefully selected for the study. The evaluation of the developed model was guided by Chinn and Kramer, (1999). The developed model consists of guidelines to guide its implementation in general hospitals. The study concluded that professional nurses without psychiatry caring for MHCUs in general wards need training in psychiatry to provide holistic care Recommendations of the study include; nursing practice, nursing education and further research.