Objective High‐quality research trials are necessary to provide evidence for the effective management of mental health difficulties, but successful recruitment can be challenging. Design This qualitative study examines the perceived barriers and facilitators to referring mental health service users to research trials. Seven care coordinators (n = 7) who facilitated the recruitment of participants to a cognitive behaviour therapy – informed psychosis intervention trial were interviewed. Method Demographic information was collected by questionnaire and a semi‐structured guide was used to explore barriers and facilitators to referring to a partially randomized participant preference trial. Qualitative data were thematically analysed. Results Four key themes, each with a number of sub‐themes, were identified: (1) engage the care coordinator in the recruitment process, (2) barriers to referring to research studies, (3) facilitators to referring to research studies; (4) organisational constraints impact on implementing research outcomes into routine clinical practice. Conclusions Understanding the barriers and facilitators to recruitment in mental health research could improve recruitment strategies. Our findings highlight the need for researchers’ to closely consider their recruitment strategies as service users are not always given the choice to participate in research. Several key recommendations are made based on these findings in order to maximize successful recruitment to research studies. Overall, we recommend that researchers’ adopt a flexible, tailor‐made approach for each clinical team to ensure a collaborative relationship is developed between research staff and clinicians. Practitioner points A qualitative approach to understanding recruitment challenges provides a useful opportunity to explore the barriers and facilitators to recruiting participants to research studies. These findings have practical implications that highlight the need for a collaborative partnership between researchers and clinical services. Understanding the challenges and issues related to recruitment can help researchers consider strategies to overcome recruitment issues. More research with a larger sample, across a broader population and in different mental health services is required.

Objectives. Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia often experience both positive and negative symptoms. Negative symptoms can be disabling and have a serious impact on everyday functioning. Despite the range of clinician-rated measurement tools used to assess negative symptoms, very little is known about how individuals subjectively experience these symptoms. This study sought to examine, using qualitative methods, how people living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia subjectively experience negative symptoms. Design. Qualitative study. Method. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who were experiencing negative symptoms. The sample was recruited from community and inpatient National Health Service mental health settings in the United Kingdom. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results. Twenty individuals took part. Individuals highlighted the persistent and enduring nature of their negative symptoms. Two central themes were identified: What it is like to experience negative symptoms and where have my negative symptoms come from? Within the first theme, four sub-themes emerged: loss of concentration, loss of motivation, withdrawal, and 'feeling but not feeling'. Within the second theme, four subthemes emerged related to the causes of negative symptoms: impact of traumatic life events, positive psychotic symptoms, impact of social network, and recreational and prescribed drug use. Conclusion. Individuals, who experience negative symptoms, were able to articulate the persistent and disabling nature of negative symptoms and clearly described factors which they believed contributed to the onset, exacerbation, and amelioration of the experiences. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Aims and objectivesTo explore what wellbeing means to medical and nursing staff working in a large paediatric intensive care (PIC).DesignExploratory qualitative design using an appreciative inquiry framework.SettingPIC unit; primary, secondary and tertiary.Participants46 nurses and doctors working on PIC.InterventionsA set of images were used together with open-ended questions to prompt staff to discuss what wellbeing means to them. Interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed. Data were analysed thematically.ResultsImages depicting nature, children and groups of adults were selected most. Meanings of wellbeing for PIC staff can be understood through three themes: (1) Being nurtured and supported at work, (2) Importance of nature and (3) Social support independent of work. The first theme considered the importance of being listened to at work as well as staff highlighting the value of being in control at work. Within the second theme, being active in nature and outdoors as well as the importance of being in the present moment was illustrated. Within the final theme, staff expressed the value of having support independent of work and highlighted the importance of spending time with family.ConclusionsThis study provides a unique insight into how individuals working in PIC experience wellbeing and what wellbeing means to them. Understanding how healthcare professionals in PIC settings experience wellbeing and what wellbeing means to them will enable researchers to develop interventions designed to enhance staff wellbeing based on lived experience.

Objective: Staff in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units (PICU and NICU) experience high rates of burnout due to the highly stressful environment. There is growing literature describing stress and burnout, but to date, no review of the evidence specific to pediatric and neonatal intensive care. For the development of interventions to reduce and prevent burnout, there needs to be a better understanding of this evidence. Little is known about coping strategies employed by critical care staff; it is important to collate and critique this literature to inform interventions. The objective of this systematic review was to examine burnout occurrence and coping strategies among staff working in PICU and NICU. Methods: A systematic search of Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, Medline, AMED, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Nice Evidence, and EMBASE was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Results: Studies measuring burnout and/or coping in PICU and NICU were included in the review. Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria, the majority of which used a quantitative cross-sectional design. Of the included studies, 14 measured burnout, and 17 measured coping. Conclusion: Staff working in pediatric and neonatal intensive care settings experience high rates of burnout. While staff may have the ability to use coping strategies, often time and lack of awareness mean they don't. Psychologically informed interventions are required to prevent burnout and to provide staff with the tools and resources to develop healthy coping strategies in order to boost their well-being. Those interventions must then be formally evaluated to determine their impact on staff psychological outcomes.