Background: Psychiatric nurses are aware of the importance of the therapeutic relationship in psychiatric units.\nNevertheless, a review of the scientific evidence indicates that theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient to\nestablish an adequate therapeutic alliance. Therefore, strategies are required to promote changes to enhance the\nestablishment of the working relationship. The aims of the study are to generate changes in how nurses establish\nthe therapeutic relationship in acute psychiatric units, based on participative action research and to evaluate the\neffectiveness of the implementation of evidence through this method.\nMethods/Design: The study will use a mixed method design. Qualitative methodology, through participative\naction research, will be employed to implement scientific evidence on the therapeutic relationship. A quasiexperimental,\none-group, pre-test/post-test design will also be used to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of\nthe implementation of the evidence. Participants will consist of nurses and patients from two psychiatric units in\nBarcelona. Nurses will be selected by theoretical sampling, and patients assigned to each nurses will be selected by\nconsecutive sampling. Qualitative data will be gathered through discussion groups and field diaries. Quantitative\ndata will be collected through the Working Alliance Inventory and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Qualitative\ndata will be analysed through the technique of content analysis and quantitative data through descriptive and\ninferential statistics.\nDiscussion: This study will help to understand the process of change in a nursing team working in an inpatient\npsychiatric ward and will allow nurses to generate knowledge, identify difficulties, and establish strategies to\nimplement change, as well as to assess whether the quality of the care they provide shows a qualitative\nimprovement.
Loading....