Training the Psychiatric Nurse on the Ward

Group Discussions With Nurses in a Hospital for Alcoholism

“…The modifications in social organization of a hospital unit accompanying such changes in therapeutic approach have recently been summarized by Maxwell Jones, ~~~ who emphasizes that &dquo;... patient-patient interaction or nurse-patient interaction has now to be analysed in much greater detail than formerly, when little attention was paid to what went on at this relatively untrained level.&dquo; He indicates that special training is needed to equip the student nurse for her therapeutic role. An early approach to provide further training for the nurse on the ward was described by Ackner et al in 1955. ~ The value of group methods for teaching nurses and for helping them to overcome their high initial emotional barriers against learning psychiatric techniques was stressed by the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Psychiatric Nursing.~2~ Main(6) reported in detail on a rather specialized group of nurses formed to consider the problems aroused by a special type of neurotic patient.…”