Service users' experiences of a therapeutic group programme in an acute psychiatric inpatient unit.
Psychiatric nurses have been facilitating therapeutic groups in acute psychiatric inpatient units for many years; however, there is a lack of nursing research related to this important aspect of care. This paper reports the findings of a study which aimed to gain an understanding of service users' experiences in relation to therapeutic group activities in an acute inpatient unit. A qualitative descriptive study was undertaken with eight service users in one acute psychiatric inpatient unit in Ireland. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews and analysed using Burnard's method of thematic content analysis. Several themes emerged from the findings which are presented in this paper.
O'Donovan
A
A
Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. aine.odonovan@ucc.ie
O'Mahony
J
J
D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011998:Recreation; D012649:Self Concept