NURSES AND PATIENTS PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOCIAL CLIMATE IN A FORENSIC UNIT IN WALES

The social climate of the hospital is an important determinant of the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour of patients and employees. In this s tudy we explored the social climate of a newly established forensic un it using the short form of the Correctional institute Environmental Sc ale (CIES). Our purpose war to assess the social climate in the clinic according to the views of patients and nursing staff. The social clim ate profiles that emerged showed a high level of congruence between th ese groups. A statistical analysis revealed significant differences be tween staff and patient perceptions an three of the nine subscales-aut onomy, practical orientation and staff control. However both groups pe rceived the level of staff control to be low. The unit was found to en courage open and supportive relationships between patients and staff.