Psychiatric nurses' descriptions of women with postpartum psychosis and nurses' responses--an exploratory study in Sweden.
Postpartum psychosis is the most serious type of psychiatric illness related to childbirth. This interview study with nine psychiatric nurses in Sweden explored psychiatric nurses' descriptions of women with psychosis occurring in the postpartum period and nurses' responses when providing care to these women. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. The nurses described delusions, disconnection, aggression, changed personality, self-absorption, insomnia, chaos, quietness, suicidal ideation, and 'strange eyes.' The description of strange eyes noted by the nurses has not been found in the literature, warranting further investigation. When providing care, the nurses responded with sadness, sympathy, empathy and compassion, discomfort, anger, anxiety, and happiness. These findings underscore the importance of nurses recognizing their negatively charged emotions which could interfere with providing compassionate and effective nursing care to this population.
Engqvist
Inger
I
School of Life Science, University of Skovde, Skovde, Sweden. inger.engqvist@his.se
Ferszt
Ginette
G
Ahlin
Arne
A
Nilsson
Kerstin
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000786:Anger; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003702:Delusions / Q000209:etiology; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000150:complications / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden