Totman, Jonathan, Lewando Hundt, Gillian, Wearn, Elizabeth, Paul, Moli and Johnson, Sonia (2011) Factors affecting staff morale on inpatient mental health wards in England : a qualitative investigation. BMC Psychiatry, Vol.11 (No.68). doi:10.1186/1471-244X-11-68 ISSN 1471-244X.

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Abstract

Background: Good morale among staff on inpatient psychiatric wards is an important requirement for the
maintenance of strong therapeutic alliances and positive patient experiences, and for the successful
implementation of initiatives to improve care. More understanding is needed of mechanisms underlying good and
poor morale.
Method: We conducted individual and group interviews with staff of a full range of disciplines and levels of
seniority on seven NHS in-patient wards of varying types in England.
Results: Inpatient staff feel sustained in their potentially stressful roles by mutual loyalty and trust within cohesive
ward teams. Clear roles, supportive ward managers and well designed organisational procedures and structures
maintain good morale. Perceived threats to good morale include staffing levels that are insufficient for staff to feel
safe and able to spend time with patients, the high risk of violence, and lack of voice in the wider organisation.
Conclusions: Increasing employee voice, designing jobs so as to maximise autonomy within clear and wellstructured
operational protocols, promoting greater staff-patient contact and improving responses to violence may
contribute more to inpatient staff morale than formal support mechanisms.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Health and Social Studies Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Mental Health and Wellbeing Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Social Science & Systems in Health (SSSH)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Employee morale, Hospitals -- Employees -- Job satisfaction, Mental health personnel -- Job satisfaction
Journal or Publication Title:	BMC Psychiatry
Publisher:	BioMed Central Ltd.
ISSN:	1471-244X
Official Date:	21 April 2011
Dates:	Date Event 21 April 2011 Published
Volume:	Vol.11
Number:	No.68
DOI:	10.1186/1471-244X-11-68
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit:	16 December 2015
Date of first compliant Open Access:	16 December 2015
Funder:	National Institute for Health Research (Great Britain) (NIHR)
Grant number:	08/1604/142 (NIHR)

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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