Abstract
M.Cur.
Nursing is a profession involving the care of people. Nursing is a goal directed process
in which the primary objective is to develop a relationship between the care provider
(nurse) and the care receiver (patient) for the purpose of maintaining a level of
functioning (Kreigh & Perko, 1979:10).
Psychiatric nursing is defined as specialised field within the practice of nursing. The
focus of psychiatric nursing is both corrective and preventative. It is corrective in that it
provides individuals, families or groups, who are experiencing various degrees of
emotional or psycho-social disequilibrium with an opportunity to engage in a therapeutic
interactional process. It is preventative in that it endeavours through the educative
aspect of the interpersonal process and role model exemplification, to preserve
equilibrium and promote optimum mental health (Kreigh &Perko, 1979:7).One of the concepts that the psychiatric nurse believes is important in developing
criteria for care is that behaviour has meaning. In this study, behaviour is what the youth
says and does. Meaning is defined as the way in which young people attempt to convey
the expression of their innermost feelings. Harris and Radaelli, 2007 state that the
perception of people constitute the reality of daily life, hence what the youth says and
does, is in response to perceived external and internal stimuli.