Scholarly Impact Report 2023

CATHERINE MCAULEY SCHOOL OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY, UCC

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THEME 5 - MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: PEOPLE, ORGANISATIONS, AND PLACES

An Evaluation of Staff Experiences of a Trauma Informed Educational Intervention in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Inpatient Unit.

4th National Mental Health Nursing Conference: Poster Presentation, Intervision.

believed they had developed more compassion towards clients and these attitudes were reflected in their clinical practice. Secondly, challenges associated with staffing issues and shift work made it difficult for participants to attend training regularly. Participants identified barriers to practicing in a trauma-informed manner in the current clinical environment. Finally, the need for interdisciplinary communication and support was identified. Participants saw the need for all professionals, not only nurses, to take responsibility for changing practice, and for stronger support at the organisational level. Trauma-informed practice is crucial to recovery-focused mental health nursing practice. These findings highlight the importance of training and suggest areas for further improvement in training to enhance positive mental health outcomes for children and adolescents. Lead and Team Members: Sinead Heffernan (Co-PI), Dr Aine O’Donovan (Co-PI), Prof Brenda Happell, Dr Margaret Curtin, Dr Maria O Malley, Dr John Goodwin, Rachel Murphy, Andrew Hawkins, Alice Taylor, Karen Barry Kelly, P., Saab, M. M., Hurley, E. J., Heffernan, S., Goodwin, J., Mulud, Z. A., O Malley, M., O Mahony, J., Curtin, M., Groen, G., Ivanova, S., Jörns-Presentati, A., Korhonen, J., Kostadinov, K., Lahti, M., Lalova, V., Petrova, G., & O Donovan, A. (2023). Trauma informed interventions to reduce seclusion, restraint and restrictive practices amongst staff caring for children and adolescents with challenging behaviours: A systematic review. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, https://doi.org/10.1007/ s40653-023-00524-2

Hosted by the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Directorate, the conference was based on mental health clinical nursing interventions,

leadership, quality improvement initiatives, examples of good practice or evidenced based practice initiatives, service user outcomes, and service innovations. We presented the preliminary findings from a pilot study evaluating the impact of Intervision (a form of reflective peer-led group supervision) for staff in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health in-patient unit. Guided by Action Research (McNiff, 1988), researchers and staff co-productively: • Identified the problem (clinically challenged; team tensions). • Agreed and implemented a possible solution (intervision). • Solution was followed and reviewed across a series of iterations (9 months) • Evaluated the impact (Reflexive Thematic Analysis) (Braun & Clarke, 2021). Preliminary findings demonstrate a strengthening of interdisciplinary team relationships and collegiality, evidence of team learning from each other and enhanced and new ways to approach clinical challenges. This project was funded by the Martha McMenamin Scholarship. Lead and Team Members: Dr Maria O’Malley (lead), Dr Johnny Goodwin, Alice Taylor, Ryan Goulding, Prof. Brenda Happell, Dr Aine O’Donovan

Funded by the HSE, this research study aimed to determine the impact of a trauma informed educational intervention to enhance safeguarding and reduce coercive practices in a CAMHS setting. Challenging behaviours are frequently encountered in CAMHS inpatient units and coercive practices are used to maintain safety. However utilising coercive practices may lead to the retraumatisation of young people and damage therapeutic relationships. Trauma-informed practice has successfully reduced coercive practices elsewhere (Kellly et al. 2015). The aim of this study was to explore mental health professionals’ views about their experience of a trauma-informed education program and its likely impact on their approach to practice. Five mental health professionals agreed to participate, in a focus group and interview. Three main themes were identified. Firstly, shifting attitudesandperceptionsoftrauma-informedpractice.Participants

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