Nurses’ Perceptions of Discrimination Towards People Living with Mental Illness in General Medical Hospital Settings
Date
2021-08-11
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Abstract
The research aims were to explore registered nurses’ perceptions of discrimination towards people with mental illness admitted to general medical hospital settings and to better understand the conditions that gave rise to discrimination. An interpretive feminist phenomenological design guided by Merleau-Ponty (1962) philosophy of perception was chosen. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted in one Canadian urban hospital with registered nurses who cared for people with mental illness and who were admitted to a general medical unit primarily for non-psychiatric health concerns. Interviews were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Five major themes emerged: (a) dichotomy of the mind and body, (b) discriminatory nursing practices, (c) tensions between ideals and realities, (d) othering, and (e) gendered perceptions. Discrimination occurred in situations where nurses struggled with balancing the demands of physical nursing care and mental health nursing care, where professional mental health nursing education and training was perceived as lacking, and where work time was insufficient to adequately address patients’ mental health concerns. Consequently, nurses expressed less confidence and feelings of competence in mental health nursing as compared to medical nursing, deferring to more specialized professionals for mental health care. Physical care was prioritized over mental health nursing care with nurses actively and/or passively avoiding, even dismissing psychosocial assessments and interventions. The study findings highlight the challenges of caring for people with mental illness in general medical hospital settings and RN perceptions towards discrimination. A holistic model of health care that emphasizes the importance and contributions of mind body connection to health could guide nursing practices to reduce discrimination towards people living with mental illness. Furthermore, increased mental health training in the workplace and more supportive resources could help foster a non-discriminatory work environment.
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Discrimination
Citation
Rutherford, A. (2021). Nurses’ Perceptions of Discrimination Towards People Living with Mental Illness in General Medical Hospital Settings (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.