Psychobiology and psychiatric nursing: a philosophical matrix

Over the past several years, conceptualizations of the mind have been challenged by a knowledge explosion in the psychobiological sciences. Such new knowledge continues to fuel a paradigm shift in psychiatry away from traditional psychodynamic models of the mind and toward ones balanced with a psychobiological dimension. The combination of psychodynamic and psychobiological fields of knowledge offers an opportunity for a holistic perspective on the human experience. Psychiatric nursing faces the challenge of integrating this new knowledge for the enrichment of its practice. To accomplish this complex task, issues need to be addressed in many areas critical to psychiatric nursing. Three areas are discussed in this article and include philosophy, communication of philosophy, and testing of philosophy. This article concludes with a discussion of some potential mechanisms to deal with the tensions generated by a paradigm shift in psychiatric nursing.