Reporting therapeutic discourse in a therapeutic community

Area of Science:

• Nursing Communication
• Healthcare Discourse Analysis
• Sociology of Health and Illness

Background:

• Existing research on nurse communication primarily focuses on nurse-patient interactions.
• Studies on nurse-nurse communication often emphasize practical information sharing.
• This study explores nurse communication within a hospital-based therapeutic community.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how professional nursing practice is articulated through written discourse.
• To examine the content and implications of nurses' 24-hour report documents.
• To understand the role of 'domesticity' and everyday activities in nurses' accounts.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical framework informed by Foucault's ideas on therapeutic discourse.
• Methodology grounded in ethnomethodological principles of documentary analysis.
• Content analysis of nurses' 24-hour report documents collected over 4 months.

Main Results:

• Nurses' reports highlight the significance of domesticity and ordinary activities in hospital life.
• Disruptions to routine domesticity correlate with patient admissions and discharges.
• Admissions and discharges trigger interpersonal and interactional changes among patients.

Conclusions:

• Nurses' written accounts reveal the importance of everyday life and routine in therapeutic settings.
• Patient admissions and discharges significantly impact group dynamics and patient interactions.
• Nurses in various settings should consider and address the effects of admissions/discharges on patient groups.