Nurse case management: negotiating care together within a developing relationship

TOPIC/PROBLEM: The purpose of this study was to explicate the process of nurse case management involving clients afflicted with chronic mental illness.

Grounded theory was the method of choice. Interviews were conducted with nurses in inpatient, transitional, and community settings in four cities in southern Ontario, Canada.

Negotiating care together within a developing relationship emerged as the basic social process. "Building a trusting relationship" was identified as the foundation of case management.

Salient differences were found between the three settings, yet the basic social process was consistent across settings. This underscores the therapeutic relationship as the basis for nurse psychiatric case management.