Support interventions for nurses working in acute psychiatric units: A systematic review

Abstract

Diverse support interventions have been implemented to provide support for nurses working in acute psychiatric settings. These interventions aimed at modifying the psychological and social factors, as they either prevent stress responses or reduce its effects to improve the psychological well-being of staff. This study aimed to examine effective stress reduction interventions for nurses and to identify key elements of these successful interventions. Studies included in this review were conducted in acute psychiatric settings. A comprehensive search of electronic databases was conducted for support intervention studies between 2010 and 2021. The search yielded 315 studies that were reduced to seven studies after being reviewed by two independent reviewers. The studies were coded, and key elements were identified. Seven studies that were included consisted of a randomised controlled trial, quasi-experimental design and single-group design. Interventions included mindfulness-based stress reduction, burnout prevention programmes, communication skills, educational programme, group intervention, resilience training programme and stress management. Four key elements emerged from these interventions, namely, educational support, interpersonal skills, psychological support and adaptive coping. The findings highlighted the diverse interventions in supporting psychiatric nurses to cope with stress. However, there is a dearth of studies in acute psychiatric settings that were mostly done in emergency settings. Knowledge gained from this review may assist with practice improvement as managers can implement the identified interventions.

Contribution: This is the first systematic review focusing on supportive interventions for nurses in acute psychiatric settings. The knowledge gained from this review will add to the existing research knowledge base in the field.