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“Let’s face it… it’s futile”: Experiences of futility among nurses who provide care to patients with borderline personality disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

C. Papathanasiou  and
S. Stylianidis
C. Papathanasiou*
Affiliation:
Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Psychology, Athens, Greece
S. Stylianidis
Affiliation:
Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Psychology, Athens, Greece
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Research studies suggest that mental health nurses hold negative attitudes towards patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Objectives

The aim of this study was to explore mental health nurses’ experiences and attitudes towards BPD patients in Greece, using a qualitative approach.

Methods

Data were collected through two audio-recorded focus group discussions. The participants were twelve nurses who work in two General Hospital Psychiatric Units –one in Athens and one regional– and have direct clinical experience with BPD patients. The audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis in the context of grounded theory.

Results

One overarching theme and three main themes were identified. The overarching theme that emerged was: “Futility”, which refers to feelings that the provision of nursing care to BPD patients is devoid of purpose and meaning. The main themes were: “Uncertainty”, which refers to the absence of valid causal explanations for mental disorders and on the perplexity of the BPD psychopathology; “Frustration”, which refers to challenges and barriers to providing care to BPD patients; “Unsupportiveness”, which refers to a complex mental health system, where there is a lack of guidance and goal orientation. Of significance are the nurses’ feelings of frustration and futility creating a sense of being burdened and leading to negative attitudes and behaviours towards BPD patients.

Conclusions

Understanding treatment goals from the recovery model perspective and developing guidelines to help nurses revisit the concept of medical futility, may improve care to BPD patients.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

mental health nursingstaff experiencesfutilityborderline personality disorder
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S663
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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