Pre-registration mental health nursing students who witness self-harm / self-injury amongst service users during placement: a cross-sectional study

Aim: To understand the personal impact of witnessing self-injury (SI) upon Mental
Health Nursing (MHN) students whilst on placement
Objectives:
1. Identify types of SI witnessed by MHN students.
2. Evaluate perceived self-competence in working with service users who have
self-injured.
3. Appraise access to and desired types of interventions for MHN students.
4. Assess the potential trauma of witnessing SI upon MHN students.
41.7%
Resilience Development: Our study also proposes a theoretical
staged model of resilience development (above), Our results
suggest that resilience develops through experiencing and
overcoming traumatic events, with positive growth occurring when
support outweighs stressors.
For more information, or to comment, scan the following QR code:
KEY FINDINGS…
METHOD
Data Collection & analysis: Online survey using questionnaires with open-ended
and closed items and included a Trauma Screening Questionnaire.
Descriptive analysis was completed on the quantitative data gathered, and a
thematic analysis conducted on the qualitative data.
Recruitment & Participants: MHN students recruited to the study via Mental
Health Nurse Academic UK’s participating universities (Universities of,
Bedfordshire, Huddersfield, Lancashire and Liverpool).
84 participant responses were considered fully completed and included in the final analysis.
Themes: RESILIENCE IN PRACTICE:Gained through witnessing and overcoming SHSI trauma; prior exposure seemed to reduce subsequent trauma.
SOURCES OF STRESS: Internal (e.g., guilt, self-blame, fear) and external (e.g., uncompassionate staff attitudes, staff overwork/undertraining).
SOURCES OF SUPPORT:Debriefs were highly valued, and students
desired more in-depth training from universities prior to placement.
Importance of Support
eaningful debriefs and a feeling of being part of a
supportive team are crucial for MHN student well-being and resilience
development.
2. Addressing Negative Attitudes: Student concerns about uncompassionate
staff attitudes, particularly towards service users with personality disorders,
suggest a need for improved education and challenging stigma in clinical
practice.
3. Gap in Preparation: Students often feel unprepared for the emotional and
practical demands of witnessing SI, highlighting a need for more practical
training and emotional preparation from universities.
4. Joined-up approaches needed: Professionally and personally navigating SI
experiences, requires a joined-up approach between universities and
placement providers.