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The purpose of this paper is to explore newly graduated nurses’ experiences of their preparation for psychiatric nursing practice in Malawi. Knowledge of how basic or undergraduate nursing training programs prepare nurses for mental health services will inform educators to maximize the teaching and learning processes. Students are a key stakeholder in professional training hence an understanding of their experiences of training programs is critical.

A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken. In total, 16 newly graduated nurses with six months work experience at three psychiatric hospitals in Malawi were purposively sampled and recruited into the study. One to one interviews which lasted almost 45 minutes were conducted. Data were analyzed using content analysis.

Findings show that training programs fall short in preparing students for psychiatric nursing practice. Participants reported little attention to the specialty as compared to other specialties by educators. Inadequate academic support during practice sessions was highlighted by the majority of participants.

The study needed to compare the findings with experiences of students who have been allocated to other nursing specialties.

Psychiatric nursing specialty remains the least preferred career choice for many nursing students. However, preservice nursing education programs are expected to socialize, motivate and prepare students for psychiatric practice as well. It is therefore critical to understand gaps that exist in student preparation for psychiatric nursing services in order to improve mental health training.

This paper aims to explore the training characteristics and employees' performance among the nurses in Pakistan.

The study employed cross-sectional data through random sampling of trained health nurses from the Government sector hospitals of Pakistan. The survey questionnaire is applied as the primary tool to acquire data. In total, the authors utilized 306 valid cases to infer the final results.

The structural equation modeling (SEM) underlines a positive and significant impact of cognitive ability and performance goal on employees' performance. On the other hand, there is an insignificant impact of motivation to learn on performance among the nurses of Pakistan.

Broadly, the findings of the study would provide some new insights to understand the performance of nurses in the health care sector through the outcomes of the training characteristics. Further, the results would be a way out to make a better quality of health care enhanced with the support of training. It may contribute to the growth in quality of work and improve work productivity by boosting up and uplifting training characteristics. The research arena would enrich the inclusive theoretical framework of performance and contribute to the domain literature and methodological validation.

The study confirms the role of training characteristics towards performance among the nurses of the public health sector of Pakistan. The investigation would further validate the impact of cognitive ability and the motivation to learn and performance goals on performance globally.

ABSTRACT Providing nursing care for patients with personality disorders is seen by many nursing staff as a highly undesirable job. This paper reviews the available literature and attempts to explore why the task of providing nursing care to these clients is so unpopular. Five core areas of difficulty are identified in the literature and each of these will be elaborated upon within the paper: i) these patients are perceived as less reinforcing and more demanding than mentally ill patients, ii) nurse training is inadequate preparation for this type of work, iii) the role of nursing personality‐disordered patients is high in conflict, iv) this type of nursing is traumatising and v) this type of nursing requires specific skills and qualities.The paper will then outline the implications that these challenges have for a nursing service that provides care for personality‐disordered patients. These include the impact upon i) the retention of staff, ii) the recruitment of staff, iii) the patients and iii) an organisation. The paper will also suggest some potential solutions to these challenges.

The aim of this study is to investigate the roles of psychiatric mental health nurses during their work experiences in inpatient clinical settings.

A focus group of 10 graduate psychiatric nurses with more than two years’ practice in inpatient psychiatric settings reflected on their last six months’ work placements and continuous employment. The transcripts and field notes were analyzed through thematic analysis of inductive data.

Two main themes emerged: management roles and clinical roles. The participants reflected on caring activities and obstacles encountered in fulfilling their professional roles.

Multiple practice issues emerged. The participants perceived that psychiatric nurse specialists are required to perform more caring functions than practicable in the inpatient setting due to an excess of noncaring duties, structural minimization of the caring role and inadequate training. They felt that many of the functions performed were not within their expectations of the caring role of a psychiatric nurse specialist and believed that changes in nurse education and attention to clarification of nurses’ roles might enhance the role they play in patient care.

Over the last decade there has been considerable growth in the role that psychiatric nurses play in providing care for the mentally disordered offender (MDO). Yet there has been little written about this specialty from a global perspective. Examination of the literature illustrates a large body of research and development programmes reporting the development of services to the MDO, for example, self‐harm and clinical risk assessment. Such service development is growing at a rapid pace, yet training and education to meet the needs of this patient group is something that is added onto post registration courses. Furthermore, the lack of vision and career pathways into forensic care is stifling a growing profession, which is subject to continual permanent change and investigation. Leaders and professional associations have contributed little to this unique nursing group which plays a major role in the multidisciplinary care of a very demanding set of patient needs.

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a serious condition that can result in death if it is not recognized and treated appropriately. A high fidelity simulation scenario on AWS was created for psychiatric nurses in an educational setting that focused on the recognition of alcohol withdrawal, implementation of the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment (CIWA) and initiation of appropriate treatment and management of AWS.

A formative assessment teaching strategy was used to evaluate the development and implementation of a high fidelity simulation (HFS) on alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The HFS was part of a baccalaureate undergraduate psychiatric nursing education designed to reinforce classroom theory and clinical application. Results were measured using a self‐report survey completed by students that focused on the details of content and performance.

Feedback from the 38 nursing students who evaluated the HFS was overall positive. Survey results showed that the HFS scenario reinforced the classroom theory on addiction and mental disorders while translating and supporting student's learning to clinical practice. The HFS provided opportunity for students to practice skills when they had not had this experience during the clinical rotation. Only four students felt uncomfortable with decision making and initiating the CIWA scale after the HFS.

There is a gap in the development and use of standardized simulations for mental health and substance abuse scenarios as a teaching strategy in nursing programs. The results of this study supported using HFS as an educational strategy and set the stage for future complex simulations such as dual diagnosis and clients with comorbidities.

Tackling the problem of aggression and violence in health care is high on the agenda for healthcare professionals. In an endeavour to protect both patients and staff alike when managing aggressive behaviour, the use of physical restraint is under scrutiny, particularly as a result of the reported deaths of a number of patients whilst being restrained. The challenges of employing this type of intervention, implications for safe and effective practices and the need for the suitable training of staff are explored in this paper.

The aim of the paper is to share the experience of multi‐national, funded research practice and to explore some of the issues related to conducting such studies in forensic practice. The BEST Index is a normative forensic risk assessment instrument that can be implemented through the different levels of security. It benefits the patient as it is a structured assessment instrument for assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating care in the context of risk assessment. A large‐scale, five‐country EU‐funded study was conducted to validate the instrument and to develop educational tools. Some published description of research experience exists but does not cover the issues for people new to high‐level research studies or the partnership working that is required to make multi‐national, multi‐lingual studies work to the benefit of the patient. Many issues arose during the study and those considered important to deal with, and the actions taken, are described, including ethical issues, management and organisational issues, and ‘the long haul’. Being new to research and coming straight in to this kind of large‐scale clinical research requires preparation and thought.

This paper reports on a study undertaken in one mental health NHS foundation trust in the UK, which sought to examine to what extent advanced practice nursing could contribute to advancing new ways of working in the future. The literature on advanced nursing in the UK is critically discussed and where availability permits, reference is made to international literature. The findings of a survey of nurses with a Masters degree or acting at advanced level are reported and discussed. Though the data reported here are largely confirmed by similar studies, nevertheless the insights provided should alert organisations to the complexity of introducing new roles during a time of radical change in the health care system. Despite the efforts of a highly motivated trust, respondents identified barriers and obstacles that were of such significance that some were forced to rethink their readiness to embrace the role. It is hoped that the recommendations derived from this study may assist other organisations at a similar stage of implementing advanced nursing practice roles.

The purpose of this study is to describe the workplace culture and factors associated with it from the viewpoint of the personnel providing care to patients with dual diagnosis.

Data were collected from six organizations using an electronic survey in 2019. The respondents (n = 75) worked in addiction psychiatry in specialized health care and provided care to patients. The data were statistically analyzed.

Workplace culture was evaluated as positive. Stress was experienced occasionally (Md = 2.58, Q1 = 1.96, Q3 = 3.03), job satisfaction levels were moderate (Md = 4.83, Q1 = 4.28, Q3 = 5.44) and the practice environment was evaluated as neutral (Md = 4.46, Q1 = 4.00, Q3 = 5.04). Gender, age in years, employment relationship, work time, staffing, number of patients and the participants’ experience in health care and experience in their current workplace had statistically significant associations with workplace culture.

In Finland, there have been attempts to reform service structures that also influence mental health and substance addiction services. Workplace culture is one approach to promote service development. Yet, there has been no research on workplace culture in the context of the care of patients with dual diagnosis. The results of this study bring knowledge about how health-care personnel perceives stress, job satisfaction and their practice environment in addiction psychiatry, which can be used to further develop services and workplace culture.