Background
Mental health nurses’ burnout has become a critical problem, making it necessary to examine this issue closely. Mental health nurses in prison deal with odd topics that are way different from what most mental health nurses coming off other jobs typically contend with. Different from the regular mental health nurses who are there to deal with the patients who work under the typical healthcare system, the ones who are in prison are encountering patients with complicated mental health problems in such a high-risk and probably violent environment. The prime condition of their working form causes burnout among these professionals. Workers’ burnout, a pandemic ailment for healthcare workers, is the emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and an inability to achieve satisfactory bounding or create solutions (Isenhardt & Hostettler, 2020). Nurses who practice speciality become mental health nurses, and they are in charge of the most vulnerable humans who have a high risk of getting exhausted and damaged. They can experience burnout because of the complicated nature of work. Burnout has long been an issue among healthcare providers, resulting in poor job satisfaction, high turnover rates, and substandard patient care.
Even though burnout is a proven and recognized phenomenon among nurses working in healthcare, there is a gap in the knowledge about the impact of their mental health issues on the patients (Lee et al., 2021). The burnout of mental health nurses in prisons is a significant study gap because an understanding of it may help create interventions for both the nurses and the clients. Therefore, this qualitative research aimed to fill the gap in the mental health nurses’ experiences of working in prison, identify factors that lead to burnout in this group of staff, and address the implications of burnout on caregivers. The research below aims to investigate the lived experience of the nurses employed by mental institutions to comprehend the uniqueness of the adversities and challenges they face in their daily duties (Dennard et al., 2021). The study is also aimed not only to pinpoint the causes of burnout but also to present solutions that prevent or eliminate them among the mental health nurses in prisons.
For that reason, the investigation of the care quality-client burnout relationship highlights the importance of burnout for patient outcomes in prison healthcare settings. Awareness of the fact that the burnout of the prisons influences the quality of mental health services stands out as the most crucial point of concern, both for the participants and their patients. The research has, therefore, proved that such models of care can inform the implementation of policies that target improving the working conditions of nurses in prisons and the quality of care delivery. Qualitative study below is original in the sense that it explores the case of burnout among mental health nurses stationed in prison environments and its impact on their patients. It will carry out this by clearly explaining the challenges faced by mental health nurses in order to come up with effective interventions and practices that can aid mental health nurses and improve care for prisoners.
Research Question
What are the multilevel mental health nurses’ experiences, challenges, and the methods they use to cope with these challenges, and is this on-the-job experience the factor that leads them to burnout and contributes to the poor level of care and quality of care of the prisoners with the mental health complications in the prison environment?
Study Design
Methodology
To appropriately research mental health nurses in prisons and the effect of burnout on patient care, this study will opt for the qualitative phenomenological approach. Phenomenology, the philosophy that emphasizes people’s lived experiences to discover the meanings and essences within them, is a qualitative research methodology. The strategy is most relevant for exploring the objective experience of mental health nurses working in prisons. With the delve into their sentiments, feelings, and actions while in prison, phenomenology gives the research researchers a rich understanding of their complex experiences.
The phenomenological approach also emphasizes suspending or putting prejudices aside when approaching a phenomenon with a new perspective. The method prevents researchers from imposing their views and meanings. Thus, the participants can express the depth and diversity of the experience freely. Through in-depth interviews and reflective analysis, phenomenology allows researchers to reveal the latent mechanisms or themes they see in mental health nurses’ role in prisons (Urcia, 2021). By examining the details, i.e., stressors, coping mechanisms, and relational ties, researchers can try to define the burnout effect on the inmate care system.
Study Population, Eligibility Criteria, Study Sample, Sampling Method, and Recruitment Methods
The study population for this qualitative research project will consist of mental health nurses registered in their local nursing board and currently working with the correctional system. The screening criteria will be designed based on the study’s objectives, and only individuals who meet specific criteria will be included. These criteria will include having a valid nursing license, confirming that one has been working in a mental health nursing place in prison for at least a year, and having good oral and written English skills to help in communication and data collection. The sampling will be selective, with different viewpoints and experiences involved. With volunteer sampling, volunteer researchers purposefully look for individuals matching their characteristics or personal experiences related to the research topic. Furthermore, the researcher will consider grouping the participants according to demographic attributes such as age, gender, ethnicity, and education qualifications (Peel, 2020).
We will use different media platforms to reach out to possible candidates and begin recruitment. The strategy will include:
- I am linking up with professional networks that include nursing associations.
- Online nursing forums.
- I am sending emails regarding job openings for mental health nurses in prison facilities and placing posters or distributing leaflets in appropriate healthcare settings.
These strategies seek to include the whole of society while maintaining individuals’ autonomy and confidentiality. However, the research team wants a cohort that sees things from different perspectives and experiences. To achieve this, they will use the purposeful sampling technique to invite the participants from various platforms.
Data Collection and Analysis
Qualitative data collection will be performed via semi-structured interviews with the project participants I am about to conduct. A semi-structured interview method enables both flexibility and structure for data collection so that researchers can understand the experiences, views, and opinions of the subjects and avoid deviating from the study’s main objectives. One-on-one interviews actualize the direct connection between the interviewer and each participant. It builds trust and rapport necessary for clear and detailed answers. While the interviews will involve participants sharing their experiences, challenges, coping strategies, and views about the issues relating to working as mental health nurses in prison settings, they will also look at the implications of burnout on patient care. The open-ended questions will be written in a way so that the participants can relate some aspects of their experiences. It will offer us a broad view of our research area and enable the participants to suggest additional themes and thoughts we might have missed.
To ensure that the information gathered is precise and complete, all interviews will be audio-recorded after participants’ consent, and it will be later transcribed verbatim. Multifaceted language and expressions of participants and their emotions are featured in verbatim transcripts, which are authentic when transcribed (Jowsey, 2020). The confidentiality of the participants will be guaranteed with anonymous transcripts at the beginning and end of the research process. Thematic analysis is a systematic approach to detecting and understanding any pattern or theme evident in qualitative data. The stages are as follows: acquaintance with data, coding, theme formation, cross-checking the themes, and analysis.
Study Limitations and Rigor
The reliability and rigor of the study are the two most essential attributes that bring credibility and validity to this study. One of the most long-standing issues, which requires critical analysis, is social desirability bias, where the respondents choose socially acceptable answers rather than what happened during their lives (Jowsey, 2020). Risk can be removed by implementing measures that ensure trust and rapport from the project’s foundation. Emphasizing the confidentiality and anonymity of respondents throughout the process of receiving information will make the respondents speak more freely and really. Confidentiality is a vital asset when it comes to access to the individual’s information. Moreover, reflexivity is essential, from evaluating any possible biases of the researcher to resulting in authentic and transparent research (Lee et al., 2020). Stringent qualitative research, including mental health nurses in prisons and patients’ treatment burnout, is one way of mitigating these inherent weaknesses of the proposals.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical issues must be considered when conducting a qualitative study, especially regarding vulnerable groups – for example, the people behind bars and in prisons. The informed consent of the participants is not only the main component of our research but also one of the most fundamental elements (Isenhardt & Hostettler, 2020). It will ensure that the subjects will notice for the purpose method and possibly be at risk. Confidentiality and anonymity will be strictly maintained; thus, the privacy of participants and the essence of their experiences will be protected. With the prison population being a vulnerable group susceptible to injustice and insubordination, the safety of participants from any harm and distress will be a priority (Dennard et al., 2021). Methods of eliminating the press are to be used and undue influence allowing the subjects to leave the study any time they need. Nevertheless, ethical criteria, like national or state research policies, will be strictly followed. Also, the participants will agree on the review board standards, which will, in turn, ensure compliance with the highest conceivable ethical standards and the welfare of the subjects as well (Lee et al., 2020). The research study emphasizes the ethical topic to observe the principles of beneficence, autonomy, and justice in its conduct.
Conclusion
The research is focused on the literature gap concerning burnout among mental health nurses who work in prisons and its impact on patient care. Through the use of a phenomenological approach, this study attempts to lay bare the multifaceted aspects of mental health nurses’ experience, issues, and coping mechanisms while at work in prisons, as well as the effect of burnout on clients with complex mental health problems. The study is based on multiple data collecting and analysis methods, including in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, to unveil the complexities of mental healthcare for prisoners and the connection of burnout with patient health outcomes. Besides that, the research concentrates on ethical issues, ensuring the rights and autonomy of the participants, especially those in a vulnerable group inside prisons.
References
Dennard, S., Tracy, D. K., Beeney, A., Craster, L., Bailey, F., Baureek, A., … & Kothari, R. (2021). Working in a prison: Challenges, rewards, and impacts on mental health and well-being. The Journal of Forensic Practice, 23(2), 132–149.
Isenhardt, A., & Hostettler, U. (2020). Inmate violence and correctional staff burnout: The role of sense of security, gender, and job characteristics. Journal of interpersonal violence, 35(1-2), 173-207.
Jowsey, A. (2020). Emotional Intelligence and Professional Quality of Life of Healthcare Staff. The University of Liverpool (United Kingdom).
Lee, S. E., Choi, J., Lee, H., Sang, S., Lee, H., & Hong, H. C. (2021). Factors influencing nurses’ willingness to speak up regarding patient safety in East Asia: A systematic review. Risk management and healthcare policy, 1053-1063.
Lupo, C. (2022). Prison Medical Professionals’ Perspectives on Dignity in Death for End-of-Life Inmates (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Peel, K. L. (2020). A beginner’s guide to applied educational research using thematic analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 25(1), 2.
Urcia, I. A. (2021). Comparisons of adaptations in grounded theory and phenomenology: Selecting the specific qualitative research methodology. International journal of qualitative methods, p. 20, 16094069211045474.
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