title: Confirming mental health care in acute psychiatric wards, as narrated by persons experiencing psychotic illness: an interview study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is important that mental health nurses meet the safety, security and care needs of persons suffering from psychotic illness to enhance these persons' likelihood of feeling better during their time in acute psychiatric wards. Certain persons in care describe nurses' mental health care as positive, whereas others report negative experiences and express a desire for improvements. There is limited research on how persons with psychotic illness experience nurses' mental health care acts and how such acts help these persons feel better. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore, describe and understand how the mental health nurses in acute psychiatric wards provide care that helps persons who experienced psychotic illness to feel better, as narrated by these persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study had a qualitative design; 12 persons participated in qualitative interviews. The interviews were transcribed, content analysed and interpreted using Martin Buber's concept of confirmation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of this study show three categories of confirming mental health care that describe what helped the participants to feel better step-by-step: first, being confirmed as a person experiencing psychotic illness in need of endurance; second, being confirmed as a person experiencing psychotic illness in need of decreased psychotic symptoms; and third, being confirmed as a person experiencing psychotic illness in need of support in daily life. The underlying meaning of the categories and of subcategories were interpreted and formulated as the theme; confirming mental health care to persons experiencing psychotic illness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Confirming mental health care acts seem to help persons to feel better in a step-wise manner during psychotic illness. Nurses' openness and sensitivity to the changing care needs of persons who suffer from psychotic illness create moments of confirmation within caring acts that concretely help the persons to feel better and that may enhance their health. The results show the importance of taking the experiential knowledge of persons who have experienced psychotic illness seriously to develop and increase the quality of mental health care in acute psychiatric wards.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway ; Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, University Hospital of North Norway, Mailbox 6124, N-9291 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3046-6955
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sebergsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden ; Palliative Research Center, Ersta Sköndal University College, SE-10061 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Norberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Anne-Grethe
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Talseth
keywords: Acute psychotic illness; Confirmation; Mental health nursing care; Narrative; Qualitative research