The incidence and nature of positive experiences in acute psychiatry: An exploratory study

Abstract

Background In recent years there is growing attention for negative experiences of psychiatric patients, caused by hospital stay and coercive events occurring on acute psychiatric wards. Coercive measures cannot be totally avoided and research on positive experiences in relation to psychiatric hospital stay and undergoing coercive measures is therefore needed. Aim and research question The aim of this research is to gain insight in what patients describe as positive experiences concerning their hospital stay and the undergone coercive measures. We aim to describe the incidence, nature and importance of positive experiences in patients admitted to an acute psychiatric ward. Methods We conducted an exploratory, cross-sectional study using semi-structured interviews. We used self-formulated questions, aiming to investigate the patients’ subjective positive experiences. We used the method of content analyses to describe the nature of the positive experiences. Results Forty patients (93%) described one or more positive experiences during hospital stay. According to 27 patients (70%) these positive experiences consist of the supporting and helpful contact with nursing staff. During coercive measures, contact with family and knowledge of the reason of the coercive measure, were valued the highest. Conclusion Nurses play a positive role during hospitalisation, as 70% of the patients spontaneous referred to them and their actions as positive experiences. During coercive measures, patients would like to have contact with their family and to have knowledge about the reason for using the coercive measure. Recommendations We recommend to make nurses more aware of their important role and to invite the patients’ family during coercive treatment, especially during seclusion. For further research we recommend to investigate the extent in which positive experiences can prevent the possible onset of trauma on psychiatric wards.