Working with Mental Illness in the ICU

ICU Patients with Mental Illness - Staff Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes 
 

You are invited to take part in research exploring Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards working with patients with mental illness. Participation is voluntary, but it is important that you understand why this research is being done and what your participation will involve. Please read through this information and contact the researchers if any questions arise.

Researchers: Shona Hughes sh3094@bath.ac.uk Grace Jenkins gj330@bath.ac.uk

Supervisors: Dr Rachel Paskell, ICU Clinical Psychologist r.g.paskell@bath.ac.uk                       

                      Dr Josh Valoroso, Clinical Psychologist jv468@bath.ac.uk

Patients on an ICU may be admitted with pre-existing mental illness (e.g. depression, anxiety, psychosis, eating disorders) or might become mentally ill whilst on the ICU. Staff have frequent contact with patients on the unit and might not always have training or experience working with mental illness. We want to explore ICU staff knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards working with patients with mental illness to understand this better. This may lead to recommendations for future research, clinical practice, and training. 

To take part you need to:

Be: 

      A medically trained doctor (Foundation Year 1 and above, including anaesthetists and surgeons) 

      OR 

      A qualified nurse.

      AND 

      Have worked on an ICU in the UK for at least one month, within the past 12 months. 

Taking part is voluntary. Before you decide, please read the information in this sheet carefully and ask any questions you may have. If you agree to take part, you will be asked to sign a consent form, for the use of your anonymised data in this study. 

What would taking part involve?
You will be asked for some demographic information (that will not identify you personally) and then be asked to complete a brief questionnaire exploring your knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards working with patients with mental illness in your ICU clinical role. The questionnaire should take approximately 10 minutes. We will invite any interest in taking part in a semi-structured interview to better understand individual experiences of working with people with mental illness in an ICU. If you are interested in this, further information will be provided at the end of the survey.

You can complete the survey without having to do the interview.
 

Can I withdraw from the study?
You can withdraw from the study at any time before submitting the survey just by closing your browser.
 

What will happen to the data collected and the results of the project?
The results of this questionnaire will form part of this research into ICU staff’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards mental illness. The study will form part of DClinPsy doctoral thesis portfolios and will also be published in peer reviewed journals. Other publications/presentations may also be produced e.g., for professional bodies or lay audiences. All data will be aggregated and anonymised. 
 

Data storage will be in accordance with current UK data protection legislation. Should you decide to take part, your survey response will be submitted anonymously. All electronic data will be stored securely on a password-protected file on the University’s secure server. You will not be identifiable from the data you provide. Consent forms will be stored separately and securely for 10 years after the study ends, in line with the University data storage arrangements. 
 

Once this project is completed, other researchers at the University of Bath may conduct related research projects that would benefit from using the data you provide. Further use of your data will only occur as part of projects which are given a favourable opinion by the University of Bath Ethics Committees.
 

This project has been given a favourable ethics opinion by the University of Bath, Biomedical Sciences Research Ethics Committee (reference: 0558-2523) 

What happens if there is a problem?
If you have a concern about any aspect of the project, you should ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer any questions. If they are unable to resolve your concern or you wish to make a complaint regarding the project, please contact the Research Governance and Compliance Team at research-ethics@bath.ac.uk.