The DRM method has proved to be a popular and powerful, if controversial, way to study ‘false memories’. One reason for the controversy is that the extent to which the DRM effect generalises to other kinds of memory error has been neither satisfactorily established nor subject to much empirical attention. In the present paper we contribute data to this ongoing debate. One hundred and twenty participants took part in a standard misinformation effect experiment, in which they watched some CCTV footage, were exposed to misleading post-event information about events depicted in the footage, and then completed free recall and recognition tests. Participants also completed a DRM test as an ostensibly unrelated filler task. Despite obtaining robust misinformation and DRM effects, there were no correlations between a broad range of misinformation and DRM effect measures (mean r  = −.01). This was not due to reliability issues with our measures or a lack of power. Thus DRM ‘false memories’ and misinformation effect ‘false memories’ do not appear to be equivalent.

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Aims and methodWe explored the prevalence and use of constant supportive observations (CSO) in high, medium and low secure in-patient services in a single National Health Service (NHS) mental health trust. From clinical records, we extracted data on the length of time of CSO, the reason for the initiation of CSO and associated adverse incidents for all individuals who were placed on CSO between July 2013 and June 2014.ResultsA small number of individuals accounted for a disproportionately large proportion of CSO hours in each setting. Adverse incident rates were higher on CSO than when not on CSO. There was considerable variation between different settings in terms of CSO use and the reasons for commencing CSO.Clinical implicationsThe study describes the prevalence and nature of CSO in secure forensic mental health services and the associated organisational costs. The marked variation in CSO use between settings suggests that mental health services continue to face challenges in balancing risk management with minimising restrictive interventions.Declaration of interestA.B. and J.L.I. are both directly employed by the NHS trust in which the study was conducted.

We explored the impact of nursing staff's interpersonal style and attitudes towards coercion on the management of their professional boundaries. We predicted that a combination of a particular interpersonal style, a specific attitude towards coercion and self-reported engagement in boundary crossing behaviour would be associated with particular styles of boundary management as outlined by Hamilton's (2010) Boundary Seesaw Model. For instance, a dominant interpersonal style, a pro-coercion attitude and engagement in boundary crossing behaviours would predict a controlling boundary management style. Sixty-three nursing staff in secure in-patient mental health services completed measures of boundary management, boundary crossings, attitude to coercion and interpersonal style. Regression analyses showed that a submissive interpersonal style and fewer boundary crossing behaviours were associated with a Pacifier boundary management style. By contrast, a pragmatic attitude towards coercion predicted a Negotiator style of boundary management. The regression model for a controller style was not significant. These findings are further explored along with their impact and implications for research and practice.

Developing expert consensus about observations Acknowledgements This study would not have been possible without the support provided by the members of the Delphi panel who generously gave their time and offered their expertise. Ethics The study was granted ethical approval by the University of Central Lancashire Research Ethics Committee.