Nurses attitudes towards electric shock therapy
There has been variations in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) prescription between and within countries have led many researchers to study professionals’ attitudes to the procedure. Survey questionnaire looking at knowledge and attitudes of mental health nurses in the UK will be administered. Respondents will be based in London, England. Poor knowledge of ECT was found in the nursing group, psychiatric nurses of which overestimates ECT mortality, most did not know if it caused permanent brain damage, only 2.9 percent (Lutchman, Stevens, Bashir and Orrell, 2001 pp. 141-150) psychiatric nurse had expressed positive attitudes to its use. Nursing students had significantly lower knowledge and more negative attitudes than medical students, and exposure to the procedure of ECT failed to improve their attitudes. The strongest predictor of better knowledge and more positive ECT attitudes was membership of the medical group. There were direct associations between better knowledge and more positive attitudes in the medical group but not among the nursing group. Low ECT knowledge among psychiatric nurses has implications in obtaining patients’ valid consent. The failure to link exposure to ECT to better nursing attitudes is discussed along with other educational lessons.
The efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have been established, yet widespread negative public attitudes towards the procedure remain. Little research has been carried out into the attitudes towards and knowledge of ECT among mental health staff of different disciplines (Lutchman, Stevens, Bashir and Orrell, 2001 pp. 141-150).
The questionnaire will reveal significant differences in attitudes to and knowledge of the therapy between disciplines, with psychiatrists being most favorably disposed and most knowledgeable, followed by nurses, social workers and psychologists. The attitudes scale will show to have good internal consistency and split-half reliability and discipline is an accurate predictor of attitudes towards ECT. There is a need for awareness of differences of opinion towards the treatment in multidisciplinary teams, as well as for better education about ECT for all members of the clinical team (Lutchman, Stevens, Bashir and Orrell, 2001 pp. 141-150).
The nature of nursing means that nurses spend more hours with patients than other health care professionals, nurses’ knowledge of and attitude to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is important because it is likely formed through close contact with patients as nurses’ knowledge and attitudes will be conveyed to patients. There have been several studies exploring the topic of nurses’ knowledge of and attitudes to ECT, but results are contradictory (Wood, Chambers and White, 2008 p. 251-4). The need to explore nurses’ knowledge of and attitude to ECT and to find whether knowledge and experience of ECT correlated with more positive attitudes to the treatment and to include knowledge and attitude scales and questions about experience and demography. There was highly significant correlation between knowledge of and more positive attitudes to ECT. The more years in mental health, higher grade, and the greater number of patients undergoing ECT they had had contact with correlated with more knowledge (Wood, Chambers and White, 2008 p. 251-4). The number of patients they had had contact with and the closeness of that contact correlated with more positive attitudes. Registered nurses had more knowledge and more positive attitudes than student nurses. The relationship between attitudes and knowledge is complex, for nurses to provide appropriate support to patients undergoing ECT, they need to gain knowledge and experience of the therapy early in their careers (Wood, Chambers and White, 2008 p. 251-4).
Concerns salient to nursing include instruction of patients, support to patients and families, safety of patients, assessment of clinical status, informed consent, and nurses’ and patients’ attitudes about ECT. Mental health nurses will be encouraged to join physician-colleagues in developing and disseminating information needed for nursing field to contribute certain expertise to the care of patients receiving ECT.
Thus, little research can be found in professional literature on the attitudes of professionals toward electric shock therapy. Survey questionnaire study of 25 mental health nurses will be drawn from the category on favorable response to the use of ECT, despite the presence of significant differences in response among members of the care team. The implications of research findings for current practice and research will be discussed. Qualitative and quantitative research will be used in this research.
Survey questionnaire technique in a form of statement like responses will be used as main method of research to a total of 25 mental health nurses in UK and survey questions will be in relation to electric shock therapy and how nurses approach to ECT functioning. This will adhere to five point scaling system, a response ratio of point 1 to point 5 catering to agree and or disagree answer statements to a total of 15 survey questions related to mental health nurses attitude towards electric shock therapy (ECT)
Several statements below can be used in the survey method
1 – Agree 2 – Strongly Agree 3 – Neutral 4 – Disagree 5 – Strongly Disagree
1. Past research studies have examined nurses’ attitudes to electroconvulsive therapy varied in sample size, response rates and the way attitudes are assessed
2. Nurses feel positive about the treatment, the benefit of the treatment outweighed the cost, in terms of apprehension, side effects, and stigma
3. There show quite negative nurse’ attitudes to the ECT, studies may have faults on data
4. There is pertinent and psychologic description and interpretation evolving from widespread application of shock therapy
5. Electroconvulsive therapy has received extensivecoverage by the media, much of it negative
Russell D. Lutchman, Tim Stevens, Amir Bashir, Martin Orrell (2001). Mental health professionals’ attitudes towards and knowledge of electroconvulsive therapy. Journal of Mental Health 2001, Vol. 10, No. 2, Pages 141-150
Julia Helen Wood, Mary Chambers, Sarah Jane White (2008). Nurses’ knowledge of and attitude to electroconvulsive therapy. The journal of ECT. 01/01/2008; 23(4):251-4.
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