Experiences of police officers interacting with mentally ill persons in a rural town in the Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Mjali, Ntombekhaya Mildred
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Care , Mentally ill offenders -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Offenses against the person -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Mentally ill -- Commitment and detention -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/32120 , vital:31964
- Description: The researcher worked as a psychiatric nurse in a psychiatric hospitalin Chris Hani District Municipality and observed when police officers brought mentally ill persons for admission. The mentally ill persons were dealt with harshly and in a degrading manner which raised concerns. It would seem as if police officers did not take into consideration that they were dealing with innocent individuals who were mentally ill. Therefore the researcher sought to explore how police officers experienced interacting with mentally ill persons during their everyday duties. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of police officers interacting with mentally ill persons in a rural town in the Chris Hani District Municipality. The study utilised a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design. The research population consisted of police officers working in a Community Service Centre in a rural town who regularly came into contact with mentally ill persons in the course of their duties. Purposive sampling was utilised to select participants.Data was collected by doing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with an interview guide until data saturation was reached. Data analysis was done using Tesch’s method of content analysis. Three themes with subthemes were identified and described. A literature control was done to compare the findings with current literature. Trustworthiness was ensured using Guba’s Model of trustworthiness. A high ethical standard was ensured throughout the research process. Police officers had regular contact with the mentally ill, usually when they were called out to a community venue where they had to intervene between an aggressive mentally ill person and the community. This gave them a skewed view of mental illness which they always associated with aggression. Police officers found it difficult to communicate with both the mentally ill person and his/her family. They stated that they did not know how to manage aggressive individuals who were not criminals. Police officers also related that they themselves felt vulnerable, they became very angry with the families and the mentally ill persons and feared that they will be harmed. They also expressed empathy with mentally ill persons. Recommendations were made that police officers should be trained on what their responsibilities were related to the mentally ill person they encounter. To equip them better to deal with the mentally ill, they should also receive training in effective communication and the management of aggression.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Experiences of professional nurses related to caring for chronic mentally ill patients at rural primary healthcare clinics
- Authors: Sam, Noluthando
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Rehabilitation , Chronically ill -- Rehabilitation , Hospitals -- Case management services , Mentally ill -- Care
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
- Identifier: vital:10068
- Description: Since the deinstitutionalisation of chronic mentally ill patients, there has been an increase in the number of relapsed chronic mentally ill patients who become acutely mentally ill and need to be re-admitted for acute care in psychiatric institutions. Professional nurses working at rural primary healthcare clinics find it difficult to care for these individuals because they lack the necessary knowledge and skills. Chronic mentally ill patients who have been admitted to acute care facilities are stabilised by rendering care, treatment and rehabilitation and then released into the care of the professional nurses working at rural primary healthcare clinics. These patients live in the community and have to make use of the primary healthcare clinics nearest to their homes to provide them with their prescribed medication and care. Furthermore the patients’ mental conditions do not always remain stable, possibly because of a knowledge deficit, at times about their mental status. Patients may become non-compliant, resulting in the recurrence of symptoms, and thus need to be re-admitted to the acute care facility. However, the problem leading to re-admission is not clear for all admissions. It may be that patients do not make use of the primary healthcare clinics. It also seems that the professional nurses in the primary healthcare clinics are unfamiliar in dealing with chronic mentally ill patients living in rural communities. The aim of this study was therefore, to explore and describe the experiences of these professional nurses in caring for chronic mentally ill patients living in a rural community. The researcher used qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design. The research population consisted of professional nurses working at primary healthcare clinics. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to identify participants for inclusion in the study. Data collection was conducted using one-on-one, semi structured interviews, observations and field notes and interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. Data analysis was conducted using Tesh’s method of content analysis to identify themes and sub-themes. A literature control was done to compare the findings to the current published research. Trustworthiness was ensured by using Gubas’s model (1985) of trustworthiness. A pilot study, conducted by interviewing a small sample prior to the start of the main study, determined whether the sampling and interviewing techniques of the researcher as well as the research questions were adequate for data collection. The researcher ensured that the study was of a high ethical standard by taking into consideration values that guide the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. The findings of the study was categorised into three main themes and 13 sub-themes. The main themes were as follow: Professional nurses experience problems when they have to take care of psychiatric patients attending rural primary healthcare clinics. This theme had six sub-themes which were discussed in details in chapter three. The second theme was that professional nurses experience that psychiatric patients in rural communities experience problems which affected their well-being. This second theme has got five sub-themes which were discussed further in chapter three. The last theme was that professional nurses have positive experiences when caring for psychiatric patients in rural communities. This theme has got two sub-themes as well discussed further in chapter three.
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- Date Issued: 2014