The prevalence of nursing staff stress on adult acute psychiatric in-patient wards. A systematic review

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 non-standardised 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. © Springer-Verlag 2006.