Table 1
Types and situations of uncertainty.
| Type | Situation | Explanation | Exemplar Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deciding Next Steps | Are we the best service? | Deciding if the client meets inclusion criteria for the service. | “are we the best service to assist this young person?” (NC1) |
| What option should I chose? | There are many possible trajectories to take in terms of treatment options and follow-up, professionals must decide on the best suited path for the client. | “it’s quite tricky. Unless you fit into some certain boxes it’s quite challenging” (NC1) | |
| Professional Role | Am I doing this right? | Self-doubt in professional competency. | “Addressing the young person’s presenting issue while also making sure that you don’t leave all the other stuff that they’ve got going on” (C3) |
| Demarcation of roles | Lack of clarity between or within roles. | “things do get blurred, where a lot of the time I do find myself doing things that I’m like well this is really not my job” (C2) | |
| External Factors | System services & processes | The sustainability of the service and projects. | “well at this stage we’re funded till [date removed]. But we don’t know what it’s going to look like past that date” (NC1) |
| Unpredictability of client outcomes | Unforeseen and uncontrollable client outcomes and behaviours. | “because you can’t tell, with certain clients it might end up being nothing an hour later and it’s fine and we’ll go about our whole day whereas it could end up being a potentially fatal situation” (C2) |
Table 2
Staff characteristics of questionnaire respondents.
| Demographic Details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | 6 |
| Female | 18 | |
| Contract of Employment | Full time | 11 |
| Part time | 13 | |
| Duration of Employment at Current Place of Work | <6 months | 7 |
| 6 months–2 years | 10 | |
| 2+ years | 7 | |
| Professional Qualification | Psychiatry | 2 |
| Psychology | 7 | |
| Other medicine | 2 | |
| Administration | 6 | |
| Other* | 7 | |
[i] *Counselling, Nursing, Social Work, Occupation Therapy.
Figure 1
Reported experiences of uncertainty.