Your Body, My Business: Risk Governance in A Psychiatric Nursing Home.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Mental Health Care
• Sociology of Health

Background:

• Psychiatric nursing homes are vital for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) in Taiwan.
• Ensuring patient safety is critical due to higher physical illness and accident rates in individuals with SMI.
• Limited research exists on how staff provide safe care for individuals with SMI.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how staff in a psychiatric nursing home manage resident activities to mitigate risks and reduce physical injuries.
• To explore the strategies employed by staff in managing the safety of individuals with severe mental illness.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative research approach.
• Utilized Foucault's concept of 'disciplinary power'.
• Data collected through field observations and staff interviews.

Main Results:

• Theme 1: A 'gaze for efficiency' using checklists, timetables, and spatial arrangements to manage residents' bodies.
• Theme 2: 'Controlling the deviant body' through monitoring and preventing risk behaviors with broad safety measures.
• Theme 3: 'Your body, my business' illustrates reduced resident autonomy as staff assume responsibility for behaviors.

Conclusions:

• The current risk management framework prioritizes safety over resident autonomy, potentially hindering compassionate care.
• Effective risk management requires active involvement of both staff and residents in decision-making processes.