Mental Healthcare workers' experiences in managing psychiatric patients' aggression in Maseru

Background

Aggression and violence in psychiatric clinical facilities are a common case, and mental healthcare workers utilise various management strategies to combat it. It is therefore crucial for mental healthcare workers to acquire skills for the management strategies of aggressive behaviour of psychiatric patients.

Aim

The aim of the study was to describe mental healthcare workers' experiences in the management strategies of aggressive and violent behaviour by psychiatric patients in Maseru district.

Setting

A psychiatric hospital situated to the south in Maseru in the rural countryside and general hospital located in the western lowlands of Lesotho in the village of Morija were used.

Methods

This study adopted a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design. There were two focus group interviews conducted per clinical facility, which consisted of six members in each group. There were four participants for individual interviews from psychiatric clinical facility and three individual interviews from general clinical facility.

Results

Thematic analysis of the data resulted in themes and sub-themes. These were psychological intervention strategy, physical strategy, chemical strategy, empowerment strategy and policy strategy. Participants viewed various management strategies of aggressive and violent behaviour of psychiatric patients they utilise in clinical facilities as effective.

Conclusion

The mental healthcare workers' experiences in managing aggression and violent behaviour of psychiatric patients were expression of psychological, physical, chemical, empowerment and policy strategies.

Contribution

The study will enhance the knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding management strategies that mental healthcare workers can utilise in managing aggressive and violent behaviour of psychiatric patients.

Post-traumatic stress symptoms in mental healthcare workers during the COVID-19 outbreak

Background

In the context of disease outbreaks, healthcare workers are exposed to multiple physical and psychological stressors, which may result in severe mental health outcomes. Although existing literature explores this impact, it is focused on frontline workers, with limited evidence exploring the mental well-being of mental healthcare workers (MHCWs).

Aim

To explore post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and associated factors among MHCWs within the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Setting

Four academic hospitals in the Gauteng province, South Africa, with specialised psychiatric units.

Methods

A cross-sectional study design was used. Participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique and invited to participate in structured interviews. Measurement tools included a demographic questionnaire, the post-traumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM-5 and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale.

Results

A total of 120 MHCWs participated. The prevalence of PTSS was 11.7%. The MHCWs' profession was a significant predictor of the occurrence of PTSS (p = 0.046), with nurses being the most affected. Other socio-demographic, employment, COVID-19-related factors and coping skills were not predictors of PTSS.

Conclusion

An elevated prevalence of PTSS has been found and was significantly associated with the profession of the MHCW. It is recommended that existing employee wellness programmes be strengthened to promote mental well-being and improve resilience among MHCWs, particularly vulnerable employee groups.

Contribution

This study provides insight into the prevalence of PTSS among MHCWs following the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as associated factors.

Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic - an online longitudinal follow-up study

The mental health of professionals was under pressure during- and post-pandemic. Initially, the focus was mainly on the health workers in the hospitals, but over time the pressure shifted to other sectors, including mental health care. An increase in workload and decrease in mental health of healthcare professionals in mental health care can lead to a decrease in the available care capacity. In an earlier online survey of mental health professionals, 1,300 professionals from a large number of mental healthcare institutions were involved. In this study, conducted in September 2021, about half of the respondents reported increased levels of stress. Feelings of anxiety, anger, and sadness were also increasingly experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, 4.2% replied that they were considering resigning their jobs. One of the recommendations of this previous study was to monitor these professionals repeatedly to be able to make an estimate of the stress and vision of work during the course of the pandemic and afterwards. Following this recommendation, the online survey was repeated. The aim of the current online longitudinal follow-up study was to re-evaluated mental status of healthcare workers. 510 healthcare workers participated in this follow-up survey. The reported mental health complaints were significantly higher during compared to post-pandemic. Respondents were less able to maintain work/life balance during the pandemic and even reported a shift to work. However, the majority of respondents indicated that they had restored this balance post-pandemic. Moreover, more sick leave was reported post-pandemic than during the pandemic and more frequent absences post-pandemic. This highlights the importance of focusing on resilience over training and career.

General Satisfaction Among Healthcare Workers: Differences Between Employees in Medical and Mental Health Sector

Background:

General satisfaction is a personal experience and sources of satisfaction or dissatisfaction vary between professional groups. General satisfaction is usually related with work settings, work performance and mental health status.

Aim:

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the level of general satisfaction of health care workers and to examine whether there were any differences among employees of medical and mental health sector.

Methods:

The sample consisted of employees from the medical and mental health sector, who were all randomly selected. A two-part questionnaire was used to collect data. The first section involved demographic information and the second part was a General Satisfaction Questionnaire (GSQ). The statistical analysis of data was performed using the software package 19.0 for Windows. Descriptive statistics were initially generated for sample characteristics. All data exhibited normal distributions and thus the parametric t-test was used to compare mean scores between the two health sectors. P values < 0.05 were defined as reflecting the acceptable level of statistical significance.

Results:

457 healthcare workers completed the questionnaire. The mean age of the sample was 41.8 ± 7.9 years. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for GSQ was 0.79. The total mean score of general satisfaction for the employees in medical sector was 4.5 (5=very satisfied) and for the employees in mental health sector is 4.8. T-test showed that these results are statistical different (t=4.55, p<0.01) and therefore the two groups of healthcare workers feel different general satisfaction.

Conclusions:

Mental health employees appear to experience higher levels of general satisfaction and mainly they experience higher satisfaction from family roles, life and sexual life, emotional state and relations with patients.