No abstract

Quality nursing plays a central role in the delivery of contemporary health and social care, with a positive correlation being demonstrated between patient satisfaction and the quality of nursing care received. One way to ensure such quality is to develop metrics that measure the effectiveness of various aspects of care across a variety of settings. Effective mental health nursing is predicated on understanding the lived experiences of service users in order to provide sensitively-attuned nursing care. To achieve this, mental health nurses need to establish the all-important therapeutic relationship, showing compassion and creating a dialogue whereby service users feel comfortable to share their experiences that help contextualize their distress. Indeed, service users value positive attitudes, being listened to, and being able to trust those who provide care, while mental health nurses value their ability to relate through talking, listening, and expressing empathy. However, the literature suggests that within mental health practice, a disproportionate amount of time is taken up by other activities, with little time being spent listening and talking to service users. The present study discusses the evidence relating to the therapeutic relationship in acute mental health wards and explores why, after five decades, it is not recognized as a fundamental metric of mental health nursing.

This paper explores the emotional support needs and coping strategies of family carers derived from two focus group interviews, each group comprising seven family carers. The interviews were carried out in Northern Ireland as part of phase one of the ACTION (Assisting Carers using Telematics Interventions to meet Older persons Needs) project. The purpose of the interviews was to investigate family carers' needs and experiences, but this paper focuses specifically on the emotional support needs and coping strategies identified by group members. The issues discussed included information and social support needs, the emotional impact of caring, and coping with and adaptation to the caring role. The findings reveal that for the majority of family carers their experience was one of constant searching for support and information. The anxiety and frustration associated with inconsistent and irregular support and lack of information was a major source of concern for the carers in the study. However, the carers employed a number of positive and negative coping strategies to deal with the stress associated with their caregiving role. The study concluded with the recommendation for nurses and other health care professionals to become more proactive in assessing and meeting carers' emotional support needs.