Rather a Competent Practitioner than a Compassionate Healer: Patients’ Satisfaction with Interactions in Psychiatric Inpatient Care

Abstract

Interactions with staff are important aspects in patients’ experiences of psychiatric inpatient care (PIC). This study aimed to evaluate patients’ satisfaction with their interactions with PIC staff and whether sociodemographic factors, depression and anxiety symptoms were associated with their perceptions of these interactions. In this cross-sectional study, we collected data from 84 patients receiving inpatient care in three psychiatric settings in Sweden. The patients’ perceptions of interactions with staff and self-reported degrees of depression and anxiety were evaluated through questionnaires. Overall, patients were satisfied with the patient–staff interaction. However, significantly higher scores were related to staffs’ practical competence than to their compassion. Older patients reported significantly more satisfaction than younger patients with their most recent meeting with staff. Tailored nursing interventions may improve staff’s compassionate capacity. Further research in larger samples is needed to improve our understanding of the factors associated with how patients perceive their interactions with staff.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all who contributed and enabled collection of data in this study: Sofie Press, Fredrik Boberg, Alf Eriksson, Malin Lundin, Ida Ingelsson, Ida Maria Barcheus, and Angela Pettersson.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Author contributions and authorship statement

Study design: JM, AR, BML, UHG; Data collection: JM; Analysis: AL, MV; Manuscript: JM, MV, AL, AR, BML, UHG. All authors are in agreement with the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was granted by The Swedish Society of Nursing.