Psychiatric nurses: the influence of their personal life experiences on therapeutic readiness

Abstract

This research investigates the impact of fifteen psychiatric nurses' personal experiences on their therapeutic relationships with clients. A hermeneutic phenomenological methodology informed by Heidegger is employed to gain an understanding of the human experience of these nurses in the context of the therapeutic relationship. In-depth unstructured interviews of an hours duration is the method chosen to obtain the nurses' stories. The phenomenon identified is therapeutic readiness, which is defined as the state of being in which one is ready to engage in a manner that is therapeutic for a client. The process can be described in Heideggerian terms as the psychiatric nurse's personal state of 'Being-in-the-work' moving towards a professional readiness in the field of psychiatric nursing that is associated with personal being, professional goals and family history. The phenomenon, therapeutic readiness, develops out of a nurse's personal experience and has a direct impact on the therapeutic relationship. The research illuminates the significant impact of these nurses' experiences on their therapeutic relationships. Some experiences are found to enhance therapeutic readiness while other personal experiences impede it, some impeding it to a degree that nurses are unable to work therapeutically with certain clients. The stories that describe the personal experiences that lead towards therapeutic readiness are special, as are the accounts of the professionalism and care that these nurses bring to their clients.