Challenges Encountered by Nurses Working in Acute Psychiatric Wards: A Qualitative Study in Iran

The provision of care to patients with psychiatric disorders and working in a challenging environment lead to many problems among psychiatric nurses. The aim of this study was to explore the challenges nurses faced while working in acute psychiatric wards.

A qualitative design using content analysis was used. Fifteen nurses working in psychiatric wards in hospitals affiliated to a university hospital in an urban area of Iran were chosen using a purposive sampling approach. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. An inductive content analysis method was used to analyse the collected data.

Four themes were developed based on the analysed data: "experiencing psycho-social challenges," "experiencing psychological challenges," "encountering catalysts causing challenges," and "employing various strategies for coping with challenges."

Given the importance of physical and mental well-being of nurses and the moral and professional responsibility of an organization to protect staff health, it is of prime importance to examine the inpatient psychiatric nurses' experiences to better understand them and hopefully use such knowledge so as to improve their work life.