Psychiatric Nurses’ Perceptions of and Coping with Feelings of Anger toward Patients

Abstract

This study aimed to determine psychiatric nurses’ perceptions of and coping with feelings of anger toward patients. Interviews were held with eight psychiatric nurses. After qualitative description analysis, 456 codes, 88 subcategories, and 32 categories were extracted. The characteristics regarding the perceptions of psychiatric nurses suggested that they were more likely to feel anger toward patients with intellectual disabilities and patients who do not understand them no matter how many times they explain the situation, and that they felt defenseless against verbal violence. In addition, psychiatric nurses had conflicting feelings about anger toward patients, but they coped with their anger by interacting with patients, deepening their understanding of patients, arranging work schedules, and engaging as a team. Psychiatric nurses sensed the importance of anger management in their daily nursing practice, which suggests the importance of providing sufficient support for needed adjustments to the surrounding environment and the nurses’ own reflections. The findings also suggested the importance of providing a place where nurses can consider their nursing practice and discuss seemingly unethical issues, such as anger toward patients, as well as “integrated anger management education tailored to the workplace,” which emphasizes thinking.