| The purpose of this study was to discover nurses' perspectives of factors in the locked psychiatric unit which serve to enhance or hinder healing within this environment. A qualitative study design was chosen and two focus groups were conducted with a total of 9 Psychiatric Registered Nurses responding to a series of 5 open-ended questions designed to promote discussion among the participants about the design and architectural elements within locked psychiatric units. Participants' mean number of years of psychiatric nursing providing direct patient care was 8.1 years. A content analysis of the audiotaped focus groups revealed an emerging theme of normalizing the psychiatric unit in order to promote optimum health. At the theoretical level of analysis, an explanatory model depicting the mutual process between environment, patients, and staff was developed. The data support normalizing the hospital environment for optimal health and functioning of both patients and staff in their respective roles. |
