An empirical study of the challenging roles of psychiatric nurses at in-patient psychiatric facilities and its implications for nursing education

The most common issues faced in psychiatric nursing practice were that “mental health care users deny mental illness” and the challenges associated with exposure to patients' unpredictable behaviour. Of significance was that nurses were also exposed to increased levels of aggression and violence. Psychiatric nurses reported experiencing feelings of anger and frustration, as well as high levels of burnout. Whilst psychiatric nurses indicated that they were suitably trained to deal with mental health care users, most supported the need for further training.