Nursing staff‐led behavioural group intervention in psychiatric in‐patient care: Patient and staff experiences

Abstract

A promising intervention in mental health in-patient care is behavioural activation (BA). Interventions based on BA can be used by mental health nurses and other staff members. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients' and staff members' experiences of a nursing staff-led behavioural group intervention in mental health in-patient care. The intervention was implemented at three adult acute general mental health in-patient wards in a public hospital setting in Sweden. A self-administrated questionnaire, completed by 84 patients and 34 nurses and nurse assistants, was administered, and nonparametric data analysed using descriptive statistics. Our findings revealed that both patients and nursing staff ranked nursing care and care environment as important aspects in the recovery process. Patients and staff members reported overall positive experiences of the group sessions. Patients with higher frequencies of attendance and patients satisfied with overall care had a more positive attitude towards the intervention. A more positive experience of being a group leader was reported by staff members who had been leading groups more than ten times. The most common impeding factor during implementation, reported by staff members, was a negative attitude to change. Conducive factors were having support from a psychologist and the perception that patients were showing interest. These positive experiences reported by patients and nursing staff, combined with previous research in this field, are taking us one step further in evaluating group sessions based on BA as a meaningful nursing intervention in mental health in-patient care.

Staff experiences related to implementation of a recovery‐oriented nursing programme in psychiatric inpatient care

“…They predominantly reported positive experiences, as in previous research on STR (Salberg et al . 2018), where the programme was evaluated in a similar clinical context but in a smaller local hospital setting. Nursing staff reported positive experiences of the contents and integration of the programme into nursing practice and the contribution to improvement of nursing care was rated as high.…”

“…One example of a recovery-oriented nursing programme is Steps Towards Recovery (STR), focusing on the individual recovery process while taking advantage of the benefits of a group format. The programme was first developed in a rural hospital setting in Sweden (Folke et al 2015b) and is based on behavioural activation (Folke et al 2015b;Salberg et al 2018). Behavioural activation is a psychological intervention aiming to reduce rumination and avoidance behaviour and increase consumer participation in activities that promote positive reinforcement (Kanter et al 2010).…”

“…2015b; Salberg et al . 2018). Behavioural activation is a psychological intervention aiming to reduce rumination and avoidance behaviour and increase consumer participation in activities that promote positive reinforcement (Kanter et al .…”

“…Personal recovery comprises changes of attitudes, feelings, values, goals and skills, crucial to reclaiming oneself and living a satisfying life despite limitations in everyday life (Anthony 1993). Nursing in psychiatric inpatient care fulfils an important role in an individual consumer's recovery (Gabrielsson et al 2020;De Ruysscher et al 2020;Salberg et al 2018). Recoveryoriented practices within this context imply differentiation from medical models and a shift from focusing on the diagnosis to focusing on the consumers as individuals.…”

Participation, Confirmation and Challenges: How Nursing Staff Experience the Daily Conversations Nursing Intervention in Psychiatric Inpatient Care

“…For example, Molin et al (2020) concluded that joint activities for patients and staff in PIC fostered relationships but also felt burdensome to staff due to struggles with time and disagreements among staff members. Further, Salberg et al (2018), who evaluated a nursing staff-led behavioural group intervention in PIC, reported that nursing staff experienced patients as more involved in their care and that they came closer to the patients and the atmosphere on the unit improved. Negative effects included staff members' negative attitudes and challenges in both conversations and interactions during the sessions.…”