[Nurses in the psychiatric department of a community hospital]

Anyone who tries to convert a Psychiatric Department into a hospitable home for the benefit on the inmates and their environment, has quite often not reckoned with, the "host", that is to say, with the doctors, nurses and the hospital staff in general. Hence, it seems that a fundamental change in the attitude and consciousness of those who are engaged in psychiatry, is just as important as a new treatment concept or a new building. The author quotes the Bad Driburg Community Hospital as an example: here, planning and construction were not the only important factors. The nurses have taken and accepted advice with regard to their supervisory functions, and in the course of a protracted process they have changed their attitude in favour of a psychiatric practice which follows a treatment pattern based on a "open-minded" approach to community members.