Mental health nursing students' rationales for self-disclosure: 1

This study explored mental health nursing students' rationales for choosing whether or not to self-disclose in therapeutic encounters with patients. Using a two-item questionnaire, data were collected from a convenience sample of 162 preregistered students recruited from two universities in the UK. Content analysis of the data produced three categories for using self-disclosure: "building a therapeutic relationship", "similar experiences" and "appropriate information". Reasons for not self-disclosing fell into four categories: "crossing the line", "unhelpful", "name, rank and serial number" and "students' vulnerability". The research findings suggest that both therapeutic and personal reasons are involved in the decision to use self-disclosure. This article, the first of a two-part series, outlines the background, research methods and nurses' reasons for using self-disclosure. The second article will present students' reasons for not using self-disclosure and a discussion of the findings and their implications.