Therapeutic relationships in acute inpatient mental health settings

This work considers the nature of therapeutic relationships between nursing staff and patients on acute mental health inpatient wards.
Section A is a literature review, exploring the psychological theories behind the care delivered by nurses through the medium of therapeutic relationships in inpatient settings and providing a meta-synthesis of studies investigating the nature of therapeutic relationships between nursing staff and patients from the perspectives of nurses.
Section B presents a phenomenological study in which nursing staff completed in-depth interviews providing descriptions of their therapeutic relationships with patients. The results suggest a great variance in the nursing staff ability to get to know and understand patients and their needs from a psychological perspective. The knowledge gained about patients through the medium of relationships did not seem to be shared by the staff team and did not seem to be integrated into a coherent treatment plan.