Mental health nurses' perceptions of the construct of attachment style in a medium secure hospital: a thematic analysis

View/ open
Author
Boniwell, Nikki
Etheridge, Leanne
Bagshaw, Ruth
Sullivan, Joanne
Watt, Andrew
Date
2015Type
Article
Publisher
Emerald
ISSN
1755-6228
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
BACKGROUND - Attachment theory can be regarded as central to the concept of relational security. There is a paucity of research examining the coherence of this construct for ward-based staff. METHOD & PARTICIPANTS - Five female nurses from the acute admission and assessment ward of a UK medium secure unit acted as participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and inductive thematic analysis was applied. RESULTS - Six themes; ‘staff-service user relationships’, ‘staff diversities’, ‘service user backgrounds’, ‘variability in service users’ presentations’, ‘service users with personality disorder are problematic’, and ‘nurses do not use attachment’ emerged from the data. The nurses used heuristic models of attachment related behaviour and they lacked knowledge of constructs associated with Attachment Theory. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS - Acute admissions may not be represetnative of all treatment contexts. Traditional models of attachment style may have only limitted relevance in forensic services. CONCLUSIONS – Limited knowledge and confidence in the nurses regarding how Attachment Theory might apply to service users is interesting because it may limit the extent to which care, treatment and risk management might be informed by an understanding of service user representations of therapeutic relationships. Training and educational interventions for nurses that enhance understanding of personality development and attachment styles are warranted.
Journal/conference proceeding
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice;
Citation
Boniwell, N., Etheridge, L., Bagshaw, R., Sullivan, J. and Watt, A. (2015) 'Mental health nurses' perceptions of the construcy of attachment style in a medium secure hospital: a thematic analysis', The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, 10 (4), pp.218 - 233.
Description
This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (http://hdl.handle.net/10369/7325). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.
-
Associations between staff sex/gender identity and their perceptions of patients’ attachment style in a medium secure unit
Crompton, Katherine (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2013)Background - The major premise in medium secure services is attachment theory (Adshead, 2007, 2008; Bagshaw, Lewis & Watt, 2012; Fonagy et al, 2000; Pfafflin & Adshead, 2004, van IJzendoorn et al, 1997). Assumptions are ... -
ATTACHMENT STYLE AND SOCIAL SUPPORT IN INJURED ATHLETES: EXAMINING THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF GENDER.
Hutchinson, Anna (University of Wales Institute Cardiff, 2012)The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects that gender and attachment have on the perception of social support availability in stressed, injured athletes. 127 Injured athletes (n=71, male and n=56,female) ... -
An investigation into identity and motivation in adult refugee learners of English as an additional language in the UK
Buchanan, Esther (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2012)This study investigated the motivation and identity of adult refugees learning English in the UK. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 7 adult refugees who had lived in the UK for at least 2 years. Dörnyei’s ...