Inadvertent sabotage: the novice nurse experience in caring for patients with a mental illness in medical-surgical settings

 The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to understand the lived experience of novice nurses in caring for patients with a mental illness within a medical-surgical setting. More specifically, this study explored the experiences of novice nurses who have chosen to work in a medical-surgical setting, but find themselves unexpectedly assigned to a patient whose acute physical illness is complicated by a severe mental illness. A total of seven novice nurses participated in face-to-face interviews. Through data analysis, the overarching theme of inadvertent sabotage emerged. Within this overarching theme, the following four themes illustrated the consequences of this sabotage: (a) “It’s not the care I want to give”, (b) “You can only do so much”, (c) “I am struggling to provide care”, and (d) “We were not given the toolbox”. This study concludes with recommendations for nursing education, research, and health care institutions, to support novice nurses in their endeavors to provide psychiatric care within traditional medical settings.