Patients' internal world experience of interacting with psychiatric nurses

Research was conducted to explore the patient's perception of interaction with psychiatric nurses. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 psychiatric patients. The interviews were conducted in two phases. In phase 1 of each interview, the focus was exploratory and phenomenological, where a single central question was posed concerning the nature of a psychiatric patient's experience of interaction with psychiatric nurses. In phase 2 of each interview, the focus was to probe for further patient experience, based on the data elicited in phase one. The results of the research show significant findings within the psychological dimension of psychiatric patients' internal environment with specific reference to: their perception of the interaction (including stereotyping, custodialism, rule enforcement, lack of intimacy, friendliness, and lack of empathy and caring); defense mechanisms, identified during the interaction as denial and avoidance; and anxiety as emotion. These results emphasize the importance of a facilitative psychiatric nurse-patient interaction to assist the patient in the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of mental health.