Attitudes of nursing staff towards co-workers returning from psychiatric and physical illnesses

Co-worker support, or lack of it, plays an important role in the contribution of workplace pressure to psychiatric illness and rehabilitation after sickness.

To develop and validate a measure to compare attitudes towards co-workers with different illnesses to identify specific aspects of colleagues' attitudes which may hinder the reintegration in the workplace after sickness absence of individuals with common psychiatric conditions.

A measure of co-worker behavioural concern was developed and validated using focus groups and a pilot study to determine questionnaire items. This was followed by a cross-sectional survey of 532 nursing staff within a UK hospital assessing attitudes to vignettes of a co-worker with different embedded diagnoses.

A measure of attitudes to co-workers was developed and validated. In the survey of nurses this revealed that attitudes were significantly more negative towards co-workers returning after psychiatric illnesses than to those with diabetes. Those with alcohol problems were held in particularly low esteem.

Psychiatric illnesses are stigmatised compared with physical illnesses, with the degree of behavioural blame evidently important. Co-worker reliability, predictability and coping were more important issues than particular work-related skills and could be incorporated into return-to-work plans.