Tangled ruptures: discursive changes in Danish psychiatric nursing 1965-75

Psychiatric nursing and psychiatric nurses have been referred to in various ways over the course of history. These articulations reflect and constitute the ways in which nursing is comprehended during specific periods. A rupture in these descriptions and conceptions of Danish psychiatric nursing over the period 1965--75 is identified using a discourse analytical framework, inspired primarily by Foucault. This rupture influenced all aspects of psychiatric nursing: the perception of the psychiatric patient, the expertise and knowledge of the nurse and the care given by the nurse. The study raises questions about the cultural and social changes that occurred prior to the discursive rupture.