Communication between student nurses and patients with mental illness in Thailand : a grounded theory explanation

Communication is an essential component of mental health nursing, but there is scant research on how student nurses communicate with patients in psychiatric hospitals in Thailand. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the experiences of Thai student nurses in communicating with patients with mental illness. In this qualitative study, data were gathered from 12 student nurses from a nursing college in Northeast of Thailand and who were undertaking their clinical placements in a psychiatric hospital in the same locality. Purposive sampling was used, and data was collected from observations, examinations of interaction reports and semi-structured interviews, and was analysed based on Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory. A substantive theory of learning by student nurses in developing communication skills with patients with mental illness was developed. Four phases were identified in this learning process; the first defined strategies in 'maintaining emotional balance' where students learnt to cope with their fears of communicating with patients with mental illness. The second 'building a relationship and maintaining professional credibility' was when students worked towards gaining a patient's trust, within a Thai cultural context in order to understand a patient's problems. The third 'operating therapeutic use of self' was when students learnt to use themselves as a therapeutic tool and in the final stage 'increasing professional skills' was when students developed their self-awareness and worked towards eliminating any preconceived views they had of patients with a mental illness. Of the strategies used by students to move towards the final phase, contact with patients with a mental illness during placement was the most significant. The knowledge generated by this study provides guidance for nurse educators to integrate Thai cultural issues and experiential learning strategies in Thai undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programmes, with the aim of enhancing communication skills and reducing students' emotional stress.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo