Explore publications.

Emergency care units are high-pressure, fast-paced environments where nurses, as frontliners, play a critical role in delivering life-saving care to patients in acute need and mental health emergencies. Despite their crucial contributions, nurses working in these settings face unique challenges that can impact not only the quality of patient care but also the physical and emotional well-being of nursing staff. Understanding these challenges is important for optimizing workplace conditions, enhancing patient care outcomes, and reinforcing the indispensable contributions of nurses within emergency healthcare settings. This study explored the challenges faced by nurses caring for mental healthcare users in emergency care units. A qualitative exploratory-descriptive design was used.  Purposive sampling selected a sample of 14 nurses from the population who participated in the study. Data were collected using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Data analysis was guided by thematic analysis. The findings showed that poor infrastructure and increased workload were major challenges faced by nurses in emergency care units. These challenges impacted their ability to provide optimal care to mental healthcare users. Despite the significant challenges identified, emergency care units remain central to critical patient care. Improving infrastructure and alleviating staff workload are essential to building a more resilient and responsive emergency care system. We recommend that healthcare institutions develop and implement strategies to support nurses and enhance patient outcomes within emergency care units.

The sustainability of nursing education hinges on the well-being of its faculty, underscoring the intricate relationships between Work-Life Balance, the nurse educator role, and the Nursing Education Institution. This concept analysis using the Walker and Avant Method explores the interdependent connections between these core concepts, positing that they form a triad where each element influences the others. Compromised Work-Life Balance leads to burnout, diminished job satisfaction, and decreased instructional quality, ultimately affecting student outcomes. The institution's culture, policies, and leadership play a pivotal role in either enabling or hindering educator Work-Life Balance. Through an examination of core attributes and model cases, a cyclical relationship emerges, supportive institutions foster educator Work-Life Balance, yielding a virtuous cycle of high performance, retention, and institutional success. Conversely, unsupportive institutions trigger a vicious cycle of burnout, turnover, and declining educational quality. This analysis highlights the need for a multi-level approach, advocating for integrated interventions that strengthen institutional structures, support the nurse educator role, and promote Work-Life Balance strategies.

This paper aims to explore and describe the challenges experienced by nurses caring for persons diagnosed with intellectual disability. Caring for persons with intellectual disability is understood be challenging for families. This could be worse for nurses due to the challenging behaviour the persons with intellectual disability present with. This may be exacerbated by the attitudes nurses have towards persons with intellectual disability. The researchers ask the following questions: “What are the challenges experienced by nurses caring for persons with intellectual disability?” We employed an exploratory-descriptive research design, using in-depth individual face-to-face interviews to explore the nurses’ experiences. Using Tesch’s method of open coding, two overarching themes emerged: (1) Care-related challenges and (2). Facilitation of a supportive, caring environment. The findings of the study demonstrate that the experienced challenges are related to the mental status of the persons diagnosed with intellectual disability, the therapeutic environment, shortage of specialized personnel and role ambiguity. Hence, the nurses yearn for a supportive environment which includes family support and support from the institution's management, including the provision of psychosocial support, which plays a pivotal role in achieving a safe, caring environment. The findings of this study could be used to develop strategies to facilitate a supportive, caring environment to minimize therapeutic challenges.