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The good, the bad and the therapeutic: psychiatric nursing care in film

The media is an important information source regarding psychiatric nursing care. There has been limited English language research that has specifically explored the nurse-patient relationships that were depicted in film between psychiatric nurses and the people for whom they cared. Using an interpretive visual inquiry method, fifteen films were selected and analyzed using a relational ethics framework. The films were: Cosi (Joffe, 1996), Frances (Clifford, 1982), Girl, Interrupted (Mangold, 1999), Gothika (Kassovitz, 2003), Harvey (Koster, 1950), High Anxiety (Brooks, 1977), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman, 1975), Persona (Bergman, 1966), Snake Pit (Litvak, 1948), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Cameron, 1991), The Caretakers (Bartlett, 1963), The Cobweb (Minnelli, 1955), The Jacket (Maybury, 2005), The Sleep Room (Wheeler, 1998), and Titicut Follies (Wiseman, 1967). The roles of the nurses were described using Peplau’s (1952/1988) role descriptions. These included the roles of stranger, resource person, teacher, leader, surrogate, counsellor, consultant, tutor, safety agent, mediator, administrator, recorder, observer, and researcher. Exemplars were drawn from the films to discuss each of the following relational ethics themes: mutual respect, engagement, embodied knowledge, environment, and uncertainty. Two primary discourses were found embedded within the relational ethic themes: otherness and power/control. Within these discourses, sub-discourses relating to stigmatization, prejudice, domination, and marginalization were also found. Nursing must be attentive to the messages contained within the depictions of psychiatric nursing care. Nurses can no longer afford to be silent; as these images have consequences for the patients, their families, and the nurses working in this complex specialty area.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:AEU.10048/1760
Date06 1900
CreatorsWebster, Cheryl
ContributorsAustin, Wendy (Nursing), Paul, Pauline (Nursing), Sobsey, Dick (Education), Cameron, Brenda (Nursing), Ipperciel, Donald (Arts, Campus Saint-Jean), Forchuk, Cheryl (Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario)
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format1180175 bytes, application/pdf

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