Teaching psychiatric nursing in the classroom

The practice in teaching psychiatric nursing to post registration student nurses at the Bethlem Royal & The Maudsley Hospital School of Nursing is described, showing the exclusive use of experiential teaching methods. Five distinct courses are conducted at present in this topic: 1 discussions based on written work; 2 discussions centring on set topics; 3 group dynamics discussions and projects; 4 psychodrama exercises; 5 supervision classes. The latter are conducted in a manner not previously described. The dependence of effective classroom teaching on the students' ward experience is demonstrated.