The efficacy of group therapy by nurses for hospitalized patients

To investigate the effect of group therapy by nurses on chronic psychiatric patients, 100 chronic psychiatric patients between the ages of 30 and 59, hospitalized on two regressed, continued care wards and one community care preparation ward at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Augusta, Georgia, were paired, using the variables of age, diagnosis, and number and duration of hospitalizations, and assigned to five control and five experimental groups (ten patients per group). Experimental subjects attended group therapy sessions, led by two nurses, twice a week; control subjects did not. All subjects were evaluated by two nursing assistants on the NOSIE-30 scale prior to group therapy, after ten sessions, and at the end of 20 sessions. Paired t-tests were computed on pre- and postdata for six factors. Data from an evaluation scale of the most regressed ward indicated leader-patient interaction. Sociogram evaluation revealed 79 percent positive interactions. Topics most frequently mentioned were nature in regard to delusional systems and interpersonal relations in the hospital and home. Findings supported the use of group therapy with chronic regressed psychiatric patients.