The relationship between leadership, teamworking, structure, burnout and attitude to patients on acute psychiatric wards

Len Bowers, Henk Nijman, Alan Simpson, Julia Jones

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Conflict (aggression, substance use, absconding, etc.) and containment (coerced medication, manual restraint, etc.) threaten the safety of patients and staff on psychiatric wards. Previous work has suggested that staff variables may be significant in explaining differences between wards in their rates of these behaviours, and that structure (ward organisation, rules and daily routines) might be the most critical of these. This paper describes the exploration of a large dataset to assess the relationship between structure and other staff variables.

METHODS: A multivariate cross-sectional design was utilised. Data were collected from staff on 136 acute psychiatric wards in 26 NHS Trusts in England, measuring leadership, teamwork, structure, burnout and attitudes towards difficult patients. Relationships between these variables were explored through principal components analysis (PCA), structural equation modelling and cluster analysis.

RESULTS: Principal components analysis resulted in the identification of each questionnaire as a separate factor, indicating that the selected instruments assessed a number of non-overlapping items relevant for ward functioning. Structural equation modelling suggested a linear model in which leadership influenced teamwork, teamwork structure; structure burnout; and burnout feelings about difficult patients. Finally, cluster analysis identified two significantly distinct groups of wards: the larger of which had particularly good leadership, teamwork, structure, attitudes towards patients and low burnout; and the second smaller proportion which was poor on all variables and high on burnout. The better functioning cluster of wards had significantly lower rates of containment events.

CONCLUSION: The overall performance of staff teams is associated with differing rates of containment on wards. Interventions to reduce rates of containment on wards may need to address staff issues at every level, from leadership through to staff attitudes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)143-8
Number of pages6
JournalSocial Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Volume46
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Jan 2010

Keywords

  • Acute Disease
  • Aggression
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • Attitude to Health
  • Burnout, Professional
  • Conflict (Psychology)
  • England
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Leadership
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders
  • Patient Care Team
  • Professional-Patient Relations
  • Psychiatric Department, Hospital
  • Restraint, Physical
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Comparative Study
  • Journal Article
  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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