The involvement of consumers in handover with nurses has been identified as reducing miscommunication and a reduction in adverse events in generalist nursing settings. Mental health (MH) care is complex, and handover practices need to fit with the philosophy of recovery-focussed practice. Recovery-focussed practice recognizes the person at the centre of care as an expert in their own treatment and decision-making. The aim of the present study was to explore the views of consumers with a mental illness, without prior involvement in nursing handover, about their need to be involved in nursing handover on an acute mental health inpatient unit. Using an exploratory descriptive, qualitative design (n = 11), participants who were receiving care in an acute inpatient unit were recruited using purposive convenience sampling. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Participants' diagnoses were schizophrenia (n = 6), bipolar affective disorder (n = 4), and depression (n = 1). Two themes emerged from the interviews: (i) behind closed doors; and (ii) being involved. Several subthemes were also identified. The first theme, behind closed doors, had two subthemes: (i) it is about us; and (ii) knowing their thoughts. The second theme had three subthemes: (i) clarifying issues; (ii) setting expectations; and (iii) when and how. Nursing handover on the acute inpatient unit offers a good opportunity for consumers to take an active role in the delivery of nursing care. There is a need to rethink the way nursing handover occurs to include consumers.

The involvement of consumers in handover with nurses has been identified as reducing miscommunication between transitions in care and associated with reduction in adverse events in generalist nursing settings. The notion of having consumers present in nursing handover on acute mental health inpatient unit remains a relatively new concept. Central to recovery-focused mental health care is the consumer's active participation in the delivery of their care. The aim of this study was to explore the views of consumers with a mental illness about their experiences of being involved in nursing handover on acute mental health inpatient unit post-implementation of a new nursing handover involving consumers. Using an exploratory descriptive qualitative design, participants (N = 10) were recruited using purposive convenience sampling. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken, and the data were thematically analysed. Participants' principal diagnoses were schizophrenia (n = 2), schizoaffective disorder (n = 3), bipolar affective disorder (n = 2), borderline personality disorder (n = 1), and depression (n = 2). Three themes were generated from the interviews: (i) Knowing who, (ii) Shared decision-making, with subthemes: my voice was heard and not just a meet and greet, and (iii) Having time and space. The delivery of mental health care needs to put the consumer at the centre of such care regardless of the setting. In line with recovery-focused principles, the consumer's active involvement in the crucial activity of nursing handover on acute mental health inpatient unit is very important. The study has implications for ensuring consumer voices are heard in all aspects of their care delivery.