City Research Online

Abstract

The effects of mental health nurses' own experience of mental illness or being a carer have rarely been researched beyond the workplace setting. This study aimed to explore how the experience of mental illness affects mental health nurses' lives outside of and inside work. A sample of 26 mental health nurses with personal experience of mental illness took part in semistructured interviews. Data were analysed thematically using a six-phase approach. The analysis revealed the broad context of nurses' experiences of mental illness according to three interwoven themes: mental illness as part of family life; experience of accessing services; and life interwoven with mental illness. Participants typically described personal and familial experience of mental illness across their life course, with multiple causes and consequences. The findings suggest that nurses' lives outside of work should be taken into account when considering the impact of their personal experience of mental illness. Similarly being a nurse influences how mental illness is experienced. Treatment of nurses with mental illness should account for their nursing expertise whilst recognizing that the context for nurses' mental illness could be much broader than the effect of workplace stress.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Oates, J., Drey, N. & Jones, J. (2018). Interwoven histories: Mental health nurses with experience of mental illness, qualitative findings from a mixed methods study. International Journal Of Mental Health Nursing, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12437. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Publisher Keywords:	lived experience, mental health nursing, nursing qualitative
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Nursing
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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