Exploring the Reasons for Dissatisfaction of Nurses Working in Psychiatric Wards: A Qualitative Study

This study sought to learn more about psychiatric nurses’ experiences working in Iraq because it has been reported that the field of mental health nursing is challenging and has low job satisfaction. 

This research is a qualitative study and draws on lived experience conducted on 24 nurses working at Al-Rashad a special hospital in Baghdad that included psychiatric wards selected via purposeful sampling in, 2021-2022. Data were gathered using smartphone-recorded interviews. The seven steps of Colaizzi’s data analysis were used by Husserlian phenomenology. To aid in the bracketing and reflection process, each nurse’s interview was verbatim recorded, along with their thoughts, feelings, and past experiences in this hospital.

Three themes were identified as the root reasons for participants’ dissatisfaction (DSS) with their jobs in mental hospitals; insufficient training for providing psychiatric treatment, a negative reputation for psychiatric nurses in the public, and concerns of nurses. These findings were collected during the interview sessions, and notes and ideas were classified and assorted. Analysis of the qualitative data provided insights into the barriers to psychiatric nurses’ satisfaction.

The present research contributes to the experiences of clinical nurses concerning clinical intervention and care processes in Iraqi psychiatric hospitals. Confrontation of mental patients by nurses in the work environment remains crucial. The findings emphasize the importance of listening to psychiatric nurses and considering how the name of the hospital and patient type and contexts affect nursing satisfaction. Understanding the challenges in the nursing workplace has increased the quality of care providers and satisfaction in the nursing and psychiatric field.