Abstract
M.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing)
The psychiatric nurse, as a member of the multiprofessional
mental health team, utilises a goal directed approach to
assist the psychiatric patient to mobilise resources to
promote, restore and maintain his mental health as an integral
part of his quest for wholeness. This goal directed approach
is the nursing process which comprises assessment, planning,
implementing and evaluation. All four steps of the nursing
process and the nurse's interaction wi th the patient are
dependent upon therapeutic communication between the nurse and
the patient to elicit the necessary information so as to be
able to formulate the nursing diagnosis, nursing actions and
the patients' outcomes. Therapeutic communication remains
important as the core of all nurse-patient interactions.
Lack of therapeutic communication with the patient can cause
conflict in the patient's internal and external environments
since he will be unable to communicate his needs and problems
and this will delay the mental health promotion, restoration
and maintenance phases.
Currently much attention is paid to the pharmacological
treatment of the patient as more and more sophisticated
psychotropic drugs are produced, and yet the other aspect of
the patient's treatment which is equally important is
neglected, namely his communication during hospitalisation,
especially with the psychiatric nurse as she is the person in
direct contact with him and should spend most of her time
interacting with him.