Hermeneutic caring conversations in forensic psychiatric caring

Abstract

This study provides a preliminary outline for hermeneutic caring conversations. A caring culture that provides time and space to prepare hermeneutic caring conversations is a prerequisite for the implementation of hermeneutic caring conversations.

Controlling emotions—nurses’ lived experiences caring for patients in forensic psychiatry

“…This could be achieved through encounters in which the gap between the patient and the nurse is reduced (Salzmann-Erikson et al, 2016). Encounters in forensic psychiatry invite nurses to carry the burden of guilt and suffering during long periods (Rydenlund et al, 2019), which our findings suggest is made possible by having trust and compassion.…”

“…If patients sense that nurses are attempting to empathize with them, it may foster trust and open the lines of communication. Strengthened by the ethos of caring and ethics, nurses must engage with patients, which too will promote trust (Rydenlund et al, 2019).…”

“…Nurses' can facilitate patients' path to health by expressing a willingness to understand patients' experiences (Rydenlund et al, 2019). In forensic psychiatry, fear is considered a part of the milieu.…”

“…Forensic psychiatry provides services for offenders with severe mental illnesses (Nedopil, Taylor, & Gunn, 2015). Patients have often committed acts of violence (Rydenlund, Lindstrom, & Rehnsfeldt, 2019). According to Vorstenbosch, Bouman, Braun, and Bulten (2014) one third of the offenders who commit these acts have a severe mental illness, if a diagnosis is established after a forensic psychiatric examination, the person will likely be admitted to forensic psychiatric care, which is characterized by long hospital stays.…”

“…To interact with people in psychiatric nursing creates possibilities to affect patients' mental illness, and it is a key component of the rehabilitation process (Hellzen & Asplund, 2006). A caring conversation between the nurse and the patient could indicate an improvement in the patient's health (Rydenlund et al, 2019); however, there is currently scant research concerning these encounters. There is some evidence that healthcare professionals can be judicial; do not listen; and lack the adequate competence to address hopelessness, apathy, anger, and sorrow (Harris, Happell, & Manias, 2015).…”