Staff attitude and atmosphere scores as a function of ward size and patient chronicity

• Published in: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 1977-10, Vol.45 (5), p.874-884
• Main Authors: Edelson, Richard I, Paul, Gordon L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Chronic Disease; Environment; Female; Health Facility Size; Hospital Units; Hospitals, Psychiatric; Human; Humans; Male; Mental Illness (Attitudes Toward); Middle Aged; Psychiatric Hospital Staff; Psychiatric Hospitalization; Psychiatric Patients; Psychotic Disorders - therapy; Social Environment
• ISSN: 0022-006X; 1939-2117
• DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.45.5.874

Analyzed the Opinions About Mental Illness Scale (OMI) and the Ward Atmosphere Scale (WAS) for 72 treatment staff of 4 inpatient wards treating adult psychotics. Wards were selected to cross large and small size with acute and chronic patient populations, with all wards documented to profess a milieu therapy orientation. Staff were selected from each ward to equate numbers, position and training, experience, age, sex, and personality variables (MMPI Lie scale). An OMI profile that had previously been associated in the literature with effectiveness of treatment units was found to cluster significantly without interrelationships being affected by ward size or patient chronicity; however, interrelationships among WAS scores were affected by ward size and patient chronicity. Differences in the level of OMI scores for the effectiveness profile were obtained, indicating that previous relationships reported between OMI scores and treatment effectiveness appear to reflect 2 partially correlated outcomes of unit size and patient chronicity that have been confounded in other work. It is concluded that direct assessment and monitoring of actual staff functioning is a better approach for ultimately determining treatment and staff effectiveness than indirect assessment of presumed functioning via attitude and atmosphere variables. (19 ref)