Nursing in child psychiatric milieus: Part II: Mapping conceptual footholds

In the first part of this paper, child inpatient nursing practice was organized into five therapeutic processes (safety, structure, support, involvement and validation). Using this organization of nursing care, three specific practice question are now addressed. One, how will nursing blend their traditional psychosocial orientation with biological psychiatry? Two, how might nurses best respond to the pressure to reduce the length of hospitalization yet still effectively intervene with troubled children? Three, does the traditional milieu therapy model have clinical utility for child inpatient nurses in the 1990's. It is suggested that nursing practice is best supported by multiple midrange theories which clarify children's behavior and give theoretical support to specific nursing interventions.