Nurses' Attitudes and Beliefs about the Provocative Psychological Factors for Self-Injury: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

Ghaedi Heidari, Fatemeh; Maghsoudi, Jahanger; Bahrami, Masoud; Kheirabadi, Gholamreza

doi:10.22038/ijp.2018.33584.2968

Nurses' Attitudes and Beliefs about the Provocative Psychological Factors for Self-Injury: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

Authors

¹ PhD Candidate of Nursing, Student Research Committee, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

³ Associate Professor, Cancer Prevention Research Center, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

⁴ Associate Professor, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

10.22038/ijp.2018.33584.2968

Abstract

Background
Nurses have an important role in taking care of self-injury patients and their attitudes would affect the quality of care for these patients. Controversial results have been reported about the nurses’ attitude.Also, culture and context affect nurses’ attitudes. The study aimed to explore the nurses' attitudes and beliefs about the provocative psychological factors for self-injury in an Iranian context.
Materials and Methods: The present study was a descriptive qualitative research that was conducted on 12 experienced nurses in taking care of self-injury patients from three hospitals of Isfahan, using purposive and snowball sampling. Data were gathered from January to July 2017 through individual semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using conventional content analysis approach and Graneheim and Lundman method.
Results
Findings of the study were described in two main categories including intrapersonal factors of self-injury and interpersonal factors of self-injury. The first main category contained two subcategories including poor self-awareness and self-esteem and personality immaturity. The second category consisted of three subcategories including outburst of emotions, losing spirituality and low psychosocial efficiency.
Conclusion
The study provide an insight into how people's mental immaturity contributing to the framing of people as vulnerable to self-injury. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and perform multiple psychological interventions such as training coping strategies to decrease the risk of self-injury. Also, policies should be adopted to promote psychosocial support for these patients.

Keywords