Suchergebnisse

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare levels of burnout, traumatic stress and resilience amongst Norwegian nursing care staff in two intellectual disability (ID) services.


Design/methodology/approach
– This was a cross-sectional survey in which 137 staff completed questionnaires measuring work-related stress, burnout, compassion and resilience. Two groups were compared; staff in the national forensic ID services and staff in the community ID caring services.


Findings
– Nursing staff in the community ID caring services had significantly more signs of stress and burnout compared to the other group. At the same time they were more compassionate.


Originality/value
– The different caring cultures examined in this study indicated that the forensic ID staff tended to focus on the physical aspects of the caring role whilst the community ID staff tended to focus on the relational issues. The impact of serious events resulted in a higher level of stress and burnout symptoms, however the community carers showed more compassion to their work.

Previous research illustrated that the laws regulating involuntary placement and treatment of people with mental-health problems are diverse across countries. International studies comparing satisfaction levels between countries are rare. We compared the opinions of professionals and family members about the operation of the national mental-health law regulating forcibly admission and treatment of psychiatric patients in 11 countries: Ireland, Iceland, England and Wales, Romania, Slovenia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway and India. An online survey design was adopted using a Mental Health Legislation Attitudes Scale (MHLAS). This brief nine-item questionnaire was distributed via email to psychiatrists, general practitioners, acute and community mental-health nurses, tribunal members, police officers and family members in each collaborating country. The levels of agreement/disagreement were measured on a Likert scale. Data were analysed both per question and with regard to a total MHLAS 'approval' score computed as a sum of the nine questions. We found that respondents in England and Wales and Denmark expressed the highest approval for their national legislation (76% and 74%, respectively), with those in India and Ireland expressing the lowest approval (65% and 64%, respectively). Almost all countries had a more positive attitude in comparison to Ireland on the admission criteria for involuntary placement and the way people are transferred to psychiatric hospitals. There are significant variations across Europe and beyond in terms of approval for how the national mental-health law framework operates in each country.