Issues in mental health nursing
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Issues Ment Health Nurs · Jan 2006
Living among strangers: the needs and functioning of persons with schizophrenia residing in an assisted living facility.
The purposes of this research were to describe the quality of care for severe and persistent mentally ill persons with schizophrenia who reside in an assisted living facility and to explore the characteristics related to the identification of need and the level of functioning of these individuals. The specific objectives of the study were to (a) describe characteristics of the residents, (b) identify relationships among characteristics of residents and the level of functioning, and (c) analyze relationships among these characteristics and resident needs. ⋯ National and international agencies develop and implement assisted living facility standards that impact the lives of residents with moderate levels of functioning and multiple unmet needs, having implications for both practice and mental health policy.
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Issues Ment Health Nurs · Jan 2006
A study of psychiatric nurses' beliefs and attitudes about work safety and assaults in Turkey.
In Turkey, the cultural structure effects the gender roles in the society, and women are subject to violence in an intense manner both inside the family and in their workplaces. In nursing, which is still defined as a woman's job in our country, it is possible to encounter many aggressive and threatening behaviours. ⋯ It has been determined that nurses' rate of exposure to verbal/physical assault by the patients and their relatives is high and that they experience an intense uncertainty and conflict, especially in legal issues, and that the duration of working in the psychiatry clinics effects attitudes toward the assaults. It is concluded that the nurses working at the psychiatry clinics in Turkey are under risk in regards to safety and they need protection and support, both in emotional and in legal terms.
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Issues Ment Health Nurs · Dec 2005
ReviewStigma: barrier to mental health care among ethnic minorities.
This paper explicates the stigma of mental illness as it is experienced by four ethnic minority groups in the United States. Concerns about prejudice and discrimination among individuals who suffer burdens related to mental illness are delineated. ⋯ The combination of stigma and membership in an ethnic minority group can impede treatment and well-being, creating preventable and treatable mortalities and morbidities. The article concludes with recommendations for research and health policy implications.
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Issues Ment Health Nurs · Dec 2005
Comparative StudyLength of stay, admission types, psychiatric diagnoses, and the implications of stigma in African Americans in the nationwide inpatient sample.
African Americans purportedly have a higher prevalence of mental illnesses but are often misdiagnosed and less likely to seek treatment. Delayed treatment has been associated with the stigma related to these disorders. The demographic characteristics, length of stay, most prevalent psychiatric diagnoses, and hospital admissions of African Americans were compared to other U. ⋯ African American participants were younger, had significantly longer lengths of stay, and were admitted more often through the emergency room than the other groups in this sample. Psychosis, alcohol/drug dependence, and depressive neurosis were the most prevalent psychiatric diagnoses reported for African American participants. Research is needed to explain these results so that strategies can be instituted to improve the poor mental health outcomes often observed in African American populations.
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Issues Ment Health Nurs · Nov 2005
Intimate partner sexual assault against women and associated victim substance use, suicidality, and risk factors for femicide.
In order to establish the frequency of substance use, following and attributed to sexual assault, and describe the danger for femicide and suicidality for women physically and sexually abused compared to physically-abused only women, a personal interview of 148 African-American, Hispanic, and white English and Spanish-speaking abused women was completed. Women who reported more than one sexual assault were 3.5 (95% CI, 0.9, 13.4) times more likely to report beginning or increasing substance use compared to women who reported only one sexual assault. ⋯ Specific to suicide, women reporting sexual assault were 5.3 (95% CI, 1.3, 21.5) times more likely to report threatening or attempted suicide within a 90-day period compared to physically-abused only women. The health assessment and intervention of intimate partner violence must extend beyond injury to include behavior risk sequelae of substance abuse and suicidality.