Psychiatric nurses advocating for the human rights of mental health care users in Gauteng.

Background: Psychiatric nurses play an important role in advocating for mental health care users such as advocating for the care, treatment and rehabilitation of mental health care users (MHCUs). Psychiatric nurses face various challenges while advocating for the human rights of MHCUs, particularly those unable to protect their rights because of the severity of their mental health conditions. Aim: This study aimed to explore and describe psychiatric nurses' lived experiences in advocating for the human rights of MHCUs in the Gauteng province. Setting: The study was conducted within the primary healthcare (PHC) setting's mental health services, Sedibeng District, Gauteng province. Methods: The study employed a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design. Three phenomenological focus group interviews were conducted, and audio recorded to collect data. Data were analysed using Tesch's method. Results: Three themes emerged: (1) advocating for human rights was a strong push and an exhausting plea for psychiatric nurses in their attempts to voice and protect MHCUs' rights; (2) MHCUs and mental health services were discriminated against and excluded by various stakeholders; mental health awareness should be raised and (3) training needs to be conducted as a matter of urgency in order to destigmatise mental illness from government to societal level. Conclusion: Psychiatric nurses experienced feelings of disempowerment, frustration and helplessness in advocating for MHCUs' human rights. Contribution: The study's findings will contribute to the body of knowledge in clinical psychiatric mental health practice on advocating for the human rights of MHCUs.

Work-life integration among nurse educators: a meta-synthesis.

Background: Work-life integration has been extensively researched in various contexts. Women dominate the nursing profession, but work-life integration is essential for men and women since both are expected to focus equally on their families and careers. The nursing faculty perceives nurse educators' work environment as undervalued, lacking support, and limited time to grow and carry the heavy workload. Method: A qualitative meta-synthesis of studies between 2013 and 2023 was conducted using ScienceDirect, EBSCO Host, Sage and Sabinet databases. Seven articles related to the research phenomenon were retrieved. Conclusion: The resulting themes revolved around two central aspects: nurse educators' work and life integration. Nurse educators face various challenges with work-life integration and often view their failure as a personal rather than a societal issue. However, as much as achieving work-life integration is personal, there is a call for employers in academic environments to improve workplace policies, like better-paid maternity leave, affordable quality childcare, and social support. Furthermore, nurse educators' line managers should display warmth and encouragement about personal challenges affecting nurse educators.

Facilitating Holistic Nursing Through the Development of Mindfulness: A Model for Student Nurses.

Holistic nursing should be a goal for all nurses. Patients that receive holistic nursing feel acknowledged, valued, and appreciated. Caring for patients holistically requires student nurses to possess and display attributes of mindfulness and Ubuntu. Student nurses therefore need to be supported and taught how to provide caring holistically to patients while being aware, being present, and conscious in the caring moment. The purpose of this article was to describe the model developed as a frame of reference to facilitate holistic nursing through developing mindfulness and Ubuntu. A theory generative, exploratory, and contextual research design was followed. A diagrammatic structure was constructed after the concept analysis was conducted. The model consisted of three phases with an outcome of a student nurse who is caring holistically and mindfully. The model provides a framework of reference to facilitate holistic nursing through the development of mindfulness. This study adds a model of mindfulness and a lens of looking at mindfulness through an African philosophy of Ubuntu.

Child health promotion during the COVID-19 pandemic: A health and welfare sector collaboration.

BACKGROUND: Fragmented service provision and a lack of efficient cooperation between health and welfare sectors serving children and families remain ongoing challenges in South Africa. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic escalated this fragmentation. A community of practice (CoP) was established by the Centre for Social Development in Africa to promote collaboration between the sectors and to assist communities in their environments. AIM: To explore and describe collaboration on child health promotion between professional nurses and social workers, who formed part of the CoP during the COVID-19 pandemic. SETTING: The study was conducted in five public schools from four of the seven district regions of the City of Johannesburg, Gauteng province. METHODS: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design was employed to conduct psychosocial and health screenings of children and their families. Focus group interviews were conducted, and field notes were used to collect and confirm data from the team. RESULTS: Four themes emerged. Participants shared their positive and negative experiences faced during the fieldwork, their realisation of the value of collaboration between various sectors and their desire and capacity to do more. CONCLUSION: Participants indicated that collaboration between the health and welfare sectors is vital to support and promote the health of children and their families. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for collaboration between these sectors in the children and their families' ongoing struggles.Contribution: The importance of these sectors being engaged as a team highlighted the multisectoral influence shaping child development outcomes, supporting children's human rights and advancing social and economic justice.

Experiences of family members of relatives admitted as state patients in a psychiatric hospital.

Background: Family members play an important role in caring for state patients during their admission to a psychiatric hospital. They receive limited support from the multidisciplinary team because they do not have a relationship that will promote the families to verbalise their thoughts, rather the interaction that the multidisciplinary team and family members share is about the admitted state patient. Aim: This article explored and described the experiences of family members who have a relative admitted as a state patient in a psychiatric hospital. Based on the findings, specific recommendations were provided to facilitate the mental health of state patients' family members in the future. Setting: The study was conducted in participants' homes; only one interview took place in the psychiatric hospital when the family member came to meet the multidisciplinary team. Methods: The study employed a qualitative, exploratory and contextual research design. Family members' lived experiences were explored using in-depth phenomenological interviews and later analysed. Results: The findings indicated family members experienced negative feelings, a sincere desire to support their relatives and a great need to share information and knowledge about mental illness. Conclusion: The study indicated that state patients' family members' mental health should be focused on to improve their understanding of mental illness. Contribution: The findings of this study call for collaboration between the family members, the police and multidisciplinary teams from the hospitals, the mental health awareness and counselling for families.

Experiences of psychiatric nurses caring for mental healthcare users with a comorbid disorder.

BACKGROUND:  Caring for mental healthcare users (MHCUs) with a comorbid disorder of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and schizophrenia has always been challenging and requires expertise, skill, intuition and empathy. OBJECTIVES:  The objective of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of psychiatric nurses caring for MHCUs with a comorbid disorder of HIV and schizophrenia. METHOD:  A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used. Eight participants were selected through purposive sampling for individual in-depth interviews to collect data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. RESULTS:  Three themes emerged from this study. The first theme is that the psychiatric nurses experienced deep frustration because they were capable but unable to manage MHCUs with HIV and schizophrenia because of poor infrastructure and other contributing barriers. The second theme identified that the psychiatric nurses experienced discrimination against MHCUs compromising their holistic recovery. Lastly, the psychiatric nurses identified the need for health care workers in general hospitals and communities and families of MHCUs with a comorbid disorder to be educated in mental health issues to ensure continuous medical care. CONCLUSION:  The results of this study showed that psychiatric nurses became exhausted when trying to cope with difficult nursing situations. The challenges they faced had negative consequences for the mental health of the psychiatric nurses and compromised patient care.Contribution: This study adds knowledge to nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research by implementing recommendations to mitigate the challenges of psychiatric nurses caring for MHCUs with HIV and schizophrenia.

Experiences of parents of an adolescent with intellectual disability in Giyani, Limpopo province, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Parents of adolescents with intellectual disability experienced stress caused by challenges that come from having such adolescents. Those challenges affected the parents physically and emotionally, depending on the severity of the adolescent's intellectual disability. Having an adolescent with an intellectual disability becomes a burden if the challenges were not resolved. AIM: This study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of parents of adolescents with intellectual disability in Giyani. SETTING: This study was conducted at the participants' homes in Giyani, Limpopo province, South Africa. METHODS: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was utilised. The main question was 'How is it to have an adolescent with intellectual disability?' Eight purposively sampled parents participated, and data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations and field notes. Data were analysed by means of thematic coding and an independent coder was consulted. RESULTS: Four themes were identified. The study revealed that parents of adolescents with intellectual disability experienced negative emotional responses. Most parents reported a lack of support from family members and the community. They also reported caring challenges, yet some showed positive coping mechanisms. CONCLUSION: Parents of adolescents with intellectual disability experienced various challenges in caring for these children. A collaborative approach from relevant stakeholders could have a positive impact in supporting the parents of adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

A model for psychiatric nurses to facilitate the mental health of women living with borderline personality disorder.

BACKGROUND: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterised by emotional dysregulation, feelings of worthlessness, impulsivity, suicidality and poor relationships. As a result of the challenges in the treatment of women living with BPD and the lack of skills from the psychiatric nurse, there was a need to develop a model for psychiatric nurses to facilitate the mental health of women living with BPD. OBJECTIVES: To describe the process that was followed in developing, describing and evaluating a model that could be used as a framework of reference for psychiatric nurses to facilitate the mental health of women living with BPD. METHOD: A theory-generative, qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study design was used to develop the model. The central concept of the model was derived from a previous study: 'The experiences of women living with borderline personality disorder'. The process entailed the identification of the central concept and other essential criteria, the classification of the central concepts and describing the relationships between the concepts. RESULTS: The central concept was identified as 'facilitation of self-empowerment' of women living with BPD. The concepts 'facilitation' and 'self-empowerment' were defined and classified. The identified and defined central concepts were placed into interrelated statements. The model to facilitate self-empowerment of women living with BPD was developed, described and evaluated. The model has not been implemented. CONCLUSION: The model provides a framework of reference for psychiatric nurses to facilitate self-empowerment of women living with BPD.

A concept analysis of self-leadership: The "bleeding edge" in nursing leadership.

AIM: To explore the concept of self-leadership in nursing. Self-leadership, while frequently referenced, has not been clearly defined in either the literature or within nursing. DESIGN: Common language sources were reviewed, along with literature searched from 2017 to 2019 using seven electronic databases: CINAHL, EbscoHost, Sabinet, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, Nexus, and Academic Complete. Database searches yielded 10 articles. REVIEW METHODS: Walker and Avant's method of concept analysis was modified, as suggested by Risjord. RESULTS: Reviews of the broad literature demonstrated that self-leadership is the creation of a space for the individual with self-awareness to live a better self through reflective consciousness. The multidimensionality of work and blurring of boundaries between work and living has prompted the individual to understand their own qualities or abilities. The individual has a true sense of who they are and what they think and feel. This shift in leadership refocuses on a more desirable way of living and envelopes being a master of one's own destiny. CONCLUSION: Analytic work provides support for a middle-range explanatory theory that engenders self-awareness, taking the lead, and personal satisfaction. Explication of the concept and the relevance to professional nursing gives direction for future research.

Experiences of parents with an adolescent abusing substances admitted to a mental health institution in Giyani, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Substance abuse by adolescents may be a problem that contributes to their mental illness. Substance abuse does affect not only the individual who is abusing it but also friends, family and the whole community. The adolescent abusing substances may be mentally unstable and have unpredictable behaviour. There is no research on the experiences of parents with adolescents abusing substances in Giyani, South Africa. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of parents with adolescents abusing substances admitted to a mental health institution in Giyani. METHOD: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used. Data were collected by means of conducting individual, in-depth, phenomenological interviews, observations and field notes. The following central question was asked to the participants: 'How is it for you to have an adolescent who is abusing substances'. Data were analysed by using a thematic method of coding. An independent coder analysed data together with the researcher, and consensus was reached. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the data: parents experienced uncontrolled thoughts regarding their adolescent abusing substances, not being able to control their adolescent abusing substances through discipline, negative feelings regarding their adolescent abusing substances and negative consequences regarding their adolescents abusing substances. CONCLUSION: From the study result, it is clear that parents with adolescent abusing substances need professional assistance and support as evidenced by the challenges faced in terms of promoting, maintaining and restoring their mental health. Psychiatric nurses should take responsibility to educate the community about substance abuse, for example offering school health programmes. Further research studies can also be conducted in other villages to gain a greater understanding of those parents' experiences with an adolescent abusing substances.

Mental health nurses' experiences of implementing a model to facilitate self-empowerment in women living with borderline personality disorder in South Africa.

In South Africa, various treatment models from abroad have been implemented for patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. This report is based on a South African model that has been developed, implemented, and evaluated for mental health nurses to use in facilitating the self-empowerment of women living with borderline personality disorder. The aim of this study was to describe the implementation of a model to facilitate self-empowerment in women living with borderline personality disorder and to describe mental health nurses' experiences of implementing this model. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was used for the study. Participants were mental health nurses working in an inpatient psychotherapy unit in a mental health hospital. Findings revealed that mental health nurses experienced the model as a secure framework to assist women living with borderline personality disorder in making a shift to being self-empowered. The mental health nurses found that they had to adapt the model's timeframe to the women's own pace. Through use of the model, the mental health nurses also gained self-leadership. This report provides evidence from mental health nurses that the model was practical and helpful in working with women living with borderline personality disorder. The mental health nurses saw signs of self-empowerment in women living with borderline personality disorder.