Experiences of nurses who care for patients with severe/profound intellectual disabilities at a level 3 Psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape.

Abstract

The study explores the experiences of nurses who care for severe/profound intellectual disabled patients at Level 3 Psychiatric Hospital in Cape Town. People with severe intellectual disabilities require constant care and supervision which can only be provided in specialised units. In the Western Cape, one such facility is a special section for the intellectually disabled at a level three hospital. Intellectual disability is a serious lifelong disability that places a heavy burden on affected individuals. Caring for these patients may affect the individuals who work within the intellectual disability services. This study explores the experiences of nurses who care for these patients. A Phenomenological research design was chosen as the researcher identified it as the most appropriate method to describe the lived experiences of the nurses. Purposive sampling was used to select 10 participants. However, data saturation was reached after interviewing eight participants. Data was collected through in-depth unstructured interviews. The audio-taped responses were transcribed verbatim and phenomenological data analysis done