Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Michelle Ross

Abstract

Psychiatric technicians provide one-on-one daily care for mentally ill persons in inpatient settings. Specifically, suicide prevention may be more intimidating for psychiatric technicians who assume their positions with minimal clinical education and training to meet the needs of the individuals they serve. The present research was conducted to explore self-efficacy in psychiatric technicians who perform suicide prevention protocols for mental health patients. To capture participants’ experiences, a phenomenological approach was used and semi structured interviews were conducted to collect data in the study. The conceptual framework of self-efficacy theory was applied to establish theoretical foundations for understanding how psychiatric technicians experience job stress in performing patient monitoring to prevent suicide and how technicians describe their self-efficacy in fulfilling this work. Data were analyzed and themes were detected from the participants’ accounts of their experiences. The three main themes identified were (a) vulnerability, (b) unpreparedness, and (c) personal. The findings of this research could provide employers, human resource professionals, and organizations with understanding of how psychiatric technicians are affected by the pressures to ensure the safety of mentally ill persons and may advocate for the creation of corporate policies and social attitudes for improved education, training, and recognition of the beneficial contributions of these workers to the mental health profession. Potential implications for positive social change arising from the findings in this study include improved support of psychiatric technicians and improved patient outcomes for mentally ill patients.

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