Patient and Staff Perceptions of Medication Administration and Locked Entrance Doors at Psychiatric Wards

Detta är en avhandling från Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis

Sammanfattning: The general aim was, within psychiatric inpatient care, to explore patient and staff perceptions with regard to medication administration and locked entrance doors. In Study I, medication administration was illuminated according to a mini-ethnographic approach. Nurses and voluntarily admitted patients were observed and interviewed. Two central categories of patient and nurse experiences were identified, get control and leave control. In Study II, patients and nurses were interviewed about patient experiences of forced medication. Identified experiences were related to the disease, being forcibly medicated, and the drug. In Study III, the frequency of and reasons for locked entrance doors on Swedish psychiatric inpatient wards were investigated. Seventy three per cent of the doors were locked on a specific day. According to ward managers, doors were most often locked in order to prevent patients from escaping, provide security and safety, and because legalisation. In Study IV/V, voluntarily admitted patients/mental nurse assistants and nurses were interviewed about advantages and disadvantages about being cared for/working on a psychiatric inpatient ward with a locked entrance door. Most advantages mentioned by patients and staff were categorised as protection against “the outside”, secure and efficient care, and control over patients. Most disadvantages mentioned by patients were categorised as confinement, dependence on the staff, and emotional problems for patients. Most disadvantages mentioned by staff were categorised as extra work, confinement, dependence on the staff, and a non-caring environment. In conclusion, medication administration and locked entrance doors are perceived as connected with staff’s control and restricted freedom for patients. Increased reflection among staff about how medication administration and locked entrance doors are perceived by patients would increase staff’s possibilities to prevent potential experiences of coercion due to these situations among patients in psychiatric inpatient care.

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