1. What does safety in acute mental health units mean for consumers?
- Author
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Cutler, Natalie Ann and Cutler, Natalie Ann
- Abstract
Background: Safety in acute mental health units (acute units) is a priority for consumers, carers, nurses, and mental health services. Safety in acute units is frequently conceptualised as the prevention of adverse events. This meaning of safety compels nurses to practice in ways that are focused on risk. This is timeintensive and requires nurses to be hypervigilant to risk. Anomalously, this meaning of safety has been associated with a reduced experience of safety by many consumers. This suggests the meaning of safety applied as the dominant paradigm in mental health services is not consistent with the meaning of safety held by consumers who experience admission to acute units. Consumers are vulnerable when admitted to an acute unit, and there is little understanding about what safety means for them in this setting. As a result, consumers’ safety needs may not be adequately prioritised. This is significant in that feeling safe can assist consumers in their recovery. Assisting consumers’ recovery is a primary objective of mental health services. Aim: This Doctoral Project seeks to explore what safety means for consumers who have experienced admission to acute units. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study, informed by naturalistic inquiry was undertaken. Fifteen people who had experienced admission to an acute unit were individually interviewed. Data were collected via individual semi-structured interviews and analysed inductively using thematic analysis. Findings: Three themes were identified. The first theme, Influence of Nurses related to participants’ descriptions of the important role played by nurses in supporting consumers’ safety. This theme included sub-themes of availability, responsiveness and caring. Each sub-theme explored nursing actions that enhanced participants’ sense of safety in acute units. The second theme, Personhood related to the need for participants’ identity as a person to be acknowledged when they were admitted to an acute unit. This the
- Published
- 2021