Ward, Nicole (2022) ‘They think they're good at it. But they're not’: Forensic Mental Health Nurses’ Perceptions of Their Own and Colleagues’ Therapeutic Relationships. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Inpatients accommodated in high Secure Forensic Inpatient Hospitals (SFIHs) are some of Australia’s most vulnerable population, given their complex psychiatric and criminality needs. Forensic Mental Health Nurses (FMHNs) utilise Therapeutic Relationships (TRs) to achieve meaningful patient care, successful treatment outcomes, and ultimately, recovery for these inpatients to return to their community. Research exploring TRs within SFIHs has found inconsistencies in how FMHNs experience TRs, with an over-representation of positive experiences and externalisation of responsibility for harmful therapeutic experiences. The current qualitative research aimed to understand how FMHNs in a Queensland high SFIH perceive their therapeutic experiences and abilities in comparison to their views of their colleagues’ therapeutic abilities. Twenty-seven FMHNs participated in semi-structured interviews within the high SFIH setting. Reflexive thematic analysis generated four main themes: “Positive Perceptions of Self”, “Justifiable Negativity for Self”, “Positive Perceptions of Colleagues”, and “Negative Perceptions of Colleagues”. Consistent with prior evidence, the FMHNs viewed themselves to possess an abundance of positive therapeutic qualities and justified their negative or damaging qualities by externalising fault to external factors other than themselves. Almost opposing findings were reported in their perceptions of their colleagues’ therapeutic abilities, with only a few FMHNs articulating positive qualities in their colleagues. Conversely, FMHNs expressed a range of negative perceptions of their colleagues, which they attributed to their peers’ personal characteristics. These findings were considered with respect to two cognitive biases: the Self-Serving Bias and the Fundamental Attribution Error, potentially skewing how the FMHNs perceived themselves and their colleagues.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Michael Ireland; Casey Roberts |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Aug 2025 03:16 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Aug 2025 03:16 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Therapeutic Relationships; Forensic; Mental Health Nurse; Self-Serving Bias; Fundamental Attribution Error |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52855 |
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