EVALUATING FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIC NURSING-CARE

This article offers a report of the findings of a study of nursing car e in a medium secure unit. The study involved all of the nursing staff of the unit. Data were collected through the use of questionnaires, i nterviews and diaries. Frequency counting and content analysis of thes e revealed a range of views about the care offered in the unit. Those views covered issues ranging from the atmosphere in the unit to manage ment and educational issues. The findings suggested that the workforce was generally positive in its view of care in the unit, that the nurs ing staff were committed to providing an client-centred quality servic e. However, issues which occurred frequently were those of the tension between security and therapy in the unit and the adequacy or otherwis e of staffing levels. The article closes with a discussion of the vari ous findings and offers suggestions for future directions.