Mental health nurses' perceived preparedness to work with adults who have child sexual abuse histories.

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Authors

Kennedy, C
Morrissey, J
Donohue, G

Issue Date

2020-09-17

Type

Journal Article

Language

en

Keywords

child sexual abuse , mental health nursing , nurse preparedness

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Abstract

Introduction The high prevalence of adults presenting to the mental health services places mental health nurses (MHNs) in a unique position to support the person with the associated challenges of CSA, yet little is known about the preparedness of MHNs to work with this client population. Aim To explore MHNs' perceived preparedness to work with adults who have CSA histories, and to elicit their views, skills and confidence in relation to working with this sensitive issue. Method In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five consenting MHNs. A qualitative descriptive methodology informed the study. A thematic analysis framework guided the data analysis. Results The findings assert that MHNs are willing to work with survivors of CSA despite feeling unprepared to so, MHNs described feeling ill-prepared in how to respond to CSA, calling for not just education and training specific to CSA but also citing the need for clinical supervision and additional guidelines to enhance their preparedness. Discussion Results of this study further highlighted the omission of CSA within nursing curricula and the absence of role models within clinical practice as a major barrier to preparedness to work with survivors of CSA. Recommendations are made for training, education and the inclusion of clinical supervision.

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Citation

Kennedy, C., Morrissey, J., & Donohue, G. (2021). Mental health nurses' perceived preparedness to work with adults who have child sexual abuse histories. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 28(3), 384–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12686

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License

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Journal

Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing

Volume

28

Issue

3

URI

https://repository.stpatricks.ie/handle/internal/202

PubMed ID

32881165

DOI

10.1111/jpm.12686

ISSN

1365-2850

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