The feelings and thoughts of mental health nurses concerning the management of distressed and disturbed in-patients: A comparative qualitative European study*

High levels of distress and disturbance amongst those experiencing acute mental illness can be a major problem for mental health nurses. The feelings ex- perienced by these nurses when caring for and sup- porting disturbed and/or distressed patients along with their concurrent thoughts are not well described in the literature. To date, this complex issue has not been explored within a comparative European con-text. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the feelings and thoughts of mental health nurses when supporting and caring for distressed and/or disturbed patients in 6 European countries. Methods: Focus groups were used to collect data from 130 mental health nurses working in acute inpa- tient psychiatric settings. Results: Data were analysed using content analysis. Findings highlighted 6 broad themes: 1) Mixed emotions: expressive and respon- sive, 2) Procedure for caring for and supporting dis- turbed and/or distressed patients, 3) Use of guidelines for caring and supporting disturbed and/or distressed patients, 4) Team and organisational support, 5) Ethi- cal concerns: Cognitive dissonance and 6) Education and training.