Nursing of young psychotic patients: analysis of work environments and attitudes

Being members of the team who spend most of their time in direct contact with patient, nurses contribute considerably to observational and inpatient treatment process. The aims of this study were to analyse working environment of psychiatric nurses, attitudes, needs and emotional aspects while working with young (15-35 years old) psychotic patients. Study population consisted of psychiatric nurses working in all 15 inpatient psychiatry units in Vilnius. Nurses filled in an anonymous questionnaire. Summary statistics using number of observations, mean and SD were reported for quantitative variables, with absolute and relative frequencies for categorical variables. Questionnaires were filled by 86 nurses. The mean working experience was 17 years in nursing and 14 years in psychiatric nursing. Data analysis revealed that majority of nurses rated their satisfaction with their job between average and high. Results showed that there was a lack of in-service training programmes. What especially difficult was nursing of young psychotic patients and required good professional knowledge, experience and individual approach to each patient. Majority of nurses were fully satisfied with their job and were interested in further continuous self-education. The major concern in working with young psychotic patients was reassurance of personal and patient's safety.