Exploration of Nursing Care for Individuals With Bipolar Disorder in a Manic Episode: A Qualitative Study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that is chronic and has frequent relapses. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the research was to study the nursing care of patients with bipolar disorder in the mania phase. METHODS: A qualitative study was employed in this study. The sample consisted of 10 nurses working in psychiatric clinics and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was applied for analysing the data. RESULTS: Of the 10 participants, 70% were female and 30% were male. The mean age was 48.7 years. All participants were registered nurses and most of them held a Master of Science degree. Their work experience ranged from 10 to 30 years. Three main themes emerged when analysing the data obtained from the interviews with the nurses, those themes were a) Echoes of Vigilance Navigating the journey, b) Amidst the Tempest Attending to the Patients' Complex Needs, and c) Restoring Balance The Nurturing Hands of Bipolar Nursing Care, each of which could be divided into several sub-themes. CONCLUSIONS:  Nursing care plays an important role in symptom improvement and disease control by providing patient support, managing pharmacotherapy, preventing suicidality, and educating patients about the disease and self-management strategies.