Barriers to provision of psychiatric nursing care : a case study of a teaching hospital, Nigeria

Includes bibliographical references.Barriers to the provision of psychiatric nursing care have been reported worldwide, although literature on these barriers in Nigeria is limited. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the barriers to provision of psychiatric nursing care, using the case study methodology. A sample of 12 participants was recruited for the study, comprising four key informants and eight study participants. The data collection methods included grand tour interviews with the key informants, in-depth interviews with key informants and other study participants and participant observation of all 12 participants. Content analysis was conducted. It yielded five themes related to barriers, namely: personal barriers to provision of psychiatric nursing care, relationship related barriers to provision of psychiatric nursing care, environmental barriers to provision of psychiatric nursing care, organisational barriers to provision of psychiatric nursing care and “public” related barriers to provision of psychiatric nursing care. The sixth theme: Motivators to provision of psychiatric nursing care despite barriers was discovered serendipitously. These findings are in line with previous findings of studies carried out in other settings. The study findings raise the need for management to value the psychiatric nurses, refrain from the use of derogatory statements and passing comments and place high value on the educational and career progression of the psychiatric nurses and the design of a therapeutic environment