The prevalence of nursing staff stress on adult acute psychiatric in-patient wards

Background Concerns about recent changes in acute in-patient mental healthcare environments have led to fears about staff stress and poor morale in acute in-patient mental healthcare staff. Aim To review the prevalence of low staff morale, stress, burnout, job satisfaction and psychological well-being amongst staff working in in-patient psychiatric wards. Method Systematic review. Results Of 34 mental health studies identified, 13 were specific to acute in-patient settings, and 21 were specific to other non-specified ward-based samples. Most studies did not find very high levels of staff burnout and poor morale but were mostly small, of poor quality and provided incomplete or nonstandardised prevalence data. Conclusions The prevalence of indicators of low morale on acute in-patient mental health wards has been poorly researched and remains unclear. Multi-site, prospective epidemiological studies using validated measures of stress together with personal and organizational variables influencing staff stress in acute in-patient wards are required.