Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:08:37.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Attitudes and experiences of nursing staff to the Mental Health Act 2001: lessons for future mental health legislation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2014

A. M. Doherty ,
F. Jabbar  and
B. D. Kelly
A. M. Doherty*
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Psychiatry, UCD/Mater University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
F. Jabbar
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Psychiatry, UCD/Mater University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
B. D. Kelly
Affiliation:
Consultant Psychiatrist/UCD Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Adult Psychiatry, UCD/Mater University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: A. M. Doherty, UCD/Mater University Hospital, 63 Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Ireland. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives

The Mental Health Act 2001 was implemented in 2006 to bring Ireland into line with international practice and United Nations Conventions on Human Rights. Previous studies have reported some practical difficulties for the professionals involved. We wished to examine the experiences of nursing staff and the impact of the Act on clinical nursing practice since its implementation.

Method

This cross-sectional survey was conducted by questionnaire. It contained questions examining training in and attitudes to the Act, and any resultant changes in nursing practise.

Results

A total of 317 questionnaires were returned. Of the nurses, 92% reported having received training in the Act, and 56% of nursing staff believed that their workload had increased as a result of the change in legislation. Of those who made a comment, 76.5% were negative, with increased paper work, lack of clarity and an excessive focus on legalities being the most common difficulties reported.

Conclusions

Nursing staff have shown mixed attitudes to the Mental Health Act 2001, but many of the difficulties encountered are similar to those experienced by other professionals.

Keywords

Health-care reformhealth resourcesIrelandlegislationmental health servicespsychiatric hospitals
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 83 - 87
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Department of Health and Children (2001). The Mental Health Act 2001. The Stationery Office: Dublin.Google Scholar
Ganter, K (2005). Implementing the Mental Health Act 2001: what should be done? What can be done? Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine 22, 79–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jabbar, F, Doherty, AM, Aziz, M, Kelly, BD (2011). Implementing the Mental Health Act 2007 in British general practice: Lessons from Ireland. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 34, 414–418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jabbar, F, Kelly, BD, Casey, P (2010). National survey of psychiatrists’ responses to implementation of the Mental Health Act 2001 in Ireland. Irish Journal of Medical Science 179, 291–294.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2007). The Irish Mental Health Act 2001. Psychiatric Bulletin 31, 21–24.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD, Lenihan, F (2006). Attitudes towards the implementation of the Mental Health Act 2001. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine 23, 82–84.Google Scholar
Kelly, M, O’Sullivan, K, Finegan, P, Moran, J, Bradley, C (2011). Assisted admissions? A national survey of general practitioner experience of involuntary admissions. Irish Medical Journal 104, 273–275.Google Scholar
Ní Mhaoláin, Á, Kelly, BD (2009). Ireland’s Mental Health Act 2001/where are we now? Psychiatric Bulletin 33, 161–164.Google Scholar
Nwachukwu, I, Crumlish, N, Heron, EA, Gill, M (2010). Irish Mental Health Act 2001: impact on involuntary admissions in a community mental health service in Dublin. The Psychiatrist 34, 436–440.Google Scholar
O’Donoghue, B, Lyne, J, Hill, M, Larkin, C, Feeney, L, O’Callaghan, E (2010). Involuntary admission from the patients' perspective. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 45, 631–638.Google Scholar
O’Donoghue, B, Moran, P (2009). Consultant psychiatrists’ experiences and attitudes following the introduction of the Mental Health Act 2001: a national survey. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine 26, 23–26.Google Scholar
United Nations (2006). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. United Nations Department of Public Information. United Nations: Geneva.Google Scholar
United Nations, Secretariat Centre for Human Rights (1991). United Nation’s Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care. United Nations, Secretariat Centre for Human Rights.Google Scholar