TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Don’t show that you’re scared’: resilience in providing healthcare in a UK low-to-medium secure hospital
AU - Husted, Margaret
AU - Dalton, Rheyanne
PY - 2021/1/28
Y1 - 2021/1/28
N2 - Background: Healthcare provision within specialist hospitals is associated with heightened levels of stress and burnout, risking negative implications for employees, organisations, and patients. Minimal research has focused on lower-skilled worker experiences. This study explores frontline care workers’ experience and perceptions of providing care within a low-to-medium secure hospital within the UK. Method: Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare assistants and mental health nurses (18–65 years) at a low-to-medium secure hospital. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to analyse the data. Results: Three main themes are proposed: ‘Resilience to threat’ capturing the daily occurrence and normalisation of threat; ‘Need for support’ shows peer to peer talk as the primary coping mechanism but importantly, a possible disconnect between perceptions, and provision, of organisational support; finally, ‘Unique environment’ highlights the dual aspect of providing care and correction whilst coping with common challenges e.g. staff shortages. Conclusions: Results provide insight into the pressures experienced by frontline healthcare workers alongside staff motivation to ‘make a difference’. Findings highlight some unique challenges of working in low-to-medium secure hospitals which contributes to negative outcomes for worker engagement, performance, and individuals’ mental and physical health. Implications for organisations and future practice are discussed.
AB - Background: Healthcare provision within specialist hospitals is associated with heightened levels of stress and burnout, risking negative implications for employees, organisations, and patients. Minimal research has focused on lower-skilled worker experiences. This study explores frontline care workers’ experience and perceptions of providing care within a low-to-medium secure hospital within the UK. Method: Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare assistants and mental health nurses (18–65 years) at a low-to-medium secure hospital. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to analyse the data. Results: Three main themes are proposed: ‘Resilience to threat’ capturing the daily occurrence and normalisation of threat; ‘Need for support’ shows peer to peer talk as the primary coping mechanism but importantly, a possible disconnect between perceptions, and provision, of organisational support; finally, ‘Unique environment’ highlights the dual aspect of providing care and correction whilst coping with common challenges e.g. staff shortages. Conclusions: Results provide insight into the pressures experienced by frontline healthcare workers alongside staff motivation to ‘make a difference’. Findings highlight some unique challenges of working in low-to-medium secure hospitals which contributes to negative outcomes for worker engagement, performance, and individuals’ mental and physical health. Implications for organisations and future practice are discussed.
KW - Burnout
KW - correctional staff
KW - healthcare nursing
KW - resilience
KW - thematic analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100067837&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/bd7878df-0b15-3cbc-8a37-b5b7e791339c/
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2021.1874956
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2021.1874956
M3 - Article
VL - 9
SP - 84
EP - 103
JO - Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
JF - Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
SN - 2164-2850
IS - 1
ER -