Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Federation University Australia, Berwick, Victoria, Australia.
J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2024 Oct;31(5):904-915. doi: 10.1111/jpm.13039. Epub 2024 Mar 13.
WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Dual diagnosis is one of the leading causes of disability globally. Consumers with dual diagnosis have complex needs and are at risk of relapse of their psychiatric symptoms. Mental health nurses require essential skills, including empathy, to manage consumers with dual diagnosis. No studies have explored mental health nurses' empathy towards consumers with dual diagnosis. WHAT DOES THE PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Developing empathy towards consumers with dual diagnosis is complex. Mental health nurses' unemotional empathy experiences with consumers with dual diagnosis are related to their lack of ability to connect to their consumers' choices and feelings. Negative attitudes towards consumers with dual diagnosis contributed to nurses' poor empathy experiences. The unemotional responses of mental health nurses can be caused by factors such as novelty, insufficient information, and neutral evaluation of a consumer's situation. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: The study results benefit researchers, teachers, clinicians, and administrators when designing, developing, and delivering empathy training packages for mental health nurses. Improving the empathy of mental health nurses towards consumers with dual diagnosis should be a top priority for healthcare leaders and educators. A core curriculum containing holistic awareness of the biopsychosocial components of dual diagnosis makes it easier for mental health nurses to understand and develop empathy towards consumers with dual diagnosis. Future studies must address the relationship between attitude, stress, burnout, compassion fatigue and empathy among mental health nurses in relation to consumers with dual diagnosis.
INTRODUCTION: There is a lack of evidence regarding mental health nurses' empathy towards consumers with dual diagnosis.
This qualitative study aimed to describe mental health nurses' empathy towards consumers with dual diagnosis in Australian mental health settings.
Through purposeful sampling, interviews were conducted with 17 mental health nurses who have experience in caring for consumers with dual diagnosis. Thematic analysis, as an inductive approach was used, to generate codes and themes from participant data. To report on this qualitative study, we adhered to the ENTREQ guidelines.
Four themes emerged: challenges to develop empathy with consumers, lack of conducive attitude of nurses towards consumers, appraising consumers' emotions accurately and holistically responding to the appraised emotions. The findings indicated that developing empathy towards consumers with dual diagnosis is a complex task.
Mental health nurses may struggle to empathize with consumers when encountering confrontational situations. Interventional studies are required to address the relationship between mental health nurses' attitudes, stress, burnout, compassion fatigue and empathy in relation to consumers with dual diagnosis.
Understanding why mental health nurses emotional experiences differ about a similar challenging situation experienced by their consumers is vital. Further research on strategies to address empathy issues among mental health nurses could enhance nursing practice and consumer care.
本研究旨在描述澳大利亚精神卫生环境中精神科护士对双诊断消费者的同理心。
通过目的抽样，对 17 名有照顾双诊断消费者经验的精神科护士进行了访谈。采用归纳法的主题分析，从参与者的数据中生成代码和主题。为了报告这项定性研究，我们遵循了 ENTREQ 指南。
出现了四个主题：与消费者建立同理心的挑战、护士对消费者态度的不足、准确评估消费者的情绪以及对评估情绪的全面回应。研究结果表明，对双诊断消费者产生同理心是一项复杂的任务。
当遇到对抗性情况时，精神科护士可能难以与消费者产生共鸣。需要进行干预性研究来解决精神科护士对双诊断消费者的态度、压力、倦怠、同情疲劳和同理心之间的关系。
了解为什么精神科护士对其消费者类似具有挑战性的情况的情绪体验不同是至关重要的。进一步研究解决精神科护士同理心问题的策略可以加强护理实践和消费者护理。
