PSYCHIATRIC NURSING IN TROUBLED ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXTS

During 1985-1991 state, federal and media investigations uncovered wid espread fraud, patient abuse, and unethical conduct in investor-owned psychiatric hospitals, The purpose of this research study was to deter mine how nurses who were employed in these settings during this time e xperienced their work situations, Inquiry centered on ethical misgivin gs, sense-making, and patient advocacy, The experiences discussed in t his article are the results of interviews with a theoretical sample of 30 Texas nurses, Their experiences have research, policy, education, and practice implications in that health care settings are becoming in creasingly corporatized and are under great pressures to maximize prof its to increase returns on investors' equity, Copyright (C) 1996 by W. B. Saunders Company