The integration of solution-focused brief therapy principles in nursing: a literature review

The ongoing movement from institutional care to community-orientated care has gradually spread around the developed world. This shift in the philosophy of care has resulted in a reduction in the length of inpatient admissions and contributed to a decline in the number of inpatient beds. This literature review seeks to establish the suitability and relevance of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) to mental health nursing practice, with particular emphasis being given to acute inpatient settings. Databases searched for published material in English between 1980 and 2006 were: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature; MEDLINE; Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts; Sociological abstracts; and social service abstracts. Search terms included: SFBT and solution-focused approaches. Only nine papers from the original 203 citations met the inclusion criteria and were thus reviewed. These papers indicated that SFBT constitutes an appropriate set of techniques for use in mental health nursing particularly where staff have relatively brief contact with patients. Preliminary data suggest that SFBT is congruent with the philosophical underpinning of contemporary mental health nursing. However, its clinical utility and effectiveness is not well established and methodologically rigorous studies are urgently needed to determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of such approach to nursing practice.