The hopes of nurses who care for people diagnosed with chronic mental illness in closed wards

Abstract

Purpose To identify factors influencing the hopes of mental health nurses and to explore their experiences with a sense of hope. Design and Methods A descriptive research survey was conducted with 113 nurses at three closed psychiatric wards in South Korea. Findings Nurses' hope, interpersonal skill competence, and professional self-concept were all found to have statistically significant correlations (r = 0.60-0.73,p < 0.01). These factors explained 62% of the variance in nurses' hope. In ten themes influencing hope, 71.1% were positive, 28.9% negative. Practice Implications The findings suggest that the promotion of nurses' interpersonal skill competence and professional self-concept is helpful for increasing hope levels. Both positive and negative experiences with hope are important in developing strategies of nursing roles.