The past is not a foreign country. A history of ideas in psychiatric nursing scholarship based on the textbook literature from 1885 to 2013

Psychiatric nursing scholarship has a long history. The first psychiatric nursing text written by a sole nurse author was published in 1920. Texts authored by psychiatric nursing scholars provide a source for the ideas that have informed practice over the decades. This study examines the history of these ideas over time, tracing the development of ideas about practice and psychiatric nursing. Knowledge of these ideas and the scholars who promulgated them can help us understand the development of the discipline of psychiatric nursing. Clear descriptions of the ideas that have and do inform practice can lead to a better understanding of practice and provide a basis for education, research and development. Post analytic philosophy is the methodology used in this study. Bevir’s Logic of the History of Ideas is the specific approach adopted for this work. Concepts that are important to the study of the history of ideas such as meaning, belief, objectivity and explanation are defined and discussed. Textbooks are the primary source documents for this work as textbooks are the publicly available record of ideas that inform practice. Textual interpretation, using a method that integrates Bevir’s concepts and those of McKee, was used to develop an understanding of the ideas that inform practice and their history. Descriptions of important ideas from the literature are discussed in chapters 4 and 5. The ideas are organised into two epochs; the first epoch ending in 1945 and the second epoch starting from this date. Important ideas such as therapeutic relationships, managing difficult behaviours, relationships between doctors and nurses, physical health care, observations and other issues are discussed. Explanations of the ideas identified in the previous chapters are provided in chapter 6. This chapter uses traditions and dilemmas (disruptive ideas) as the explanatory framework and discusses a range of traditions that inform practice and dilemmas that may be disruptive for the discipline of psychiatric nursing. Some of the longstanding traditions that still inform current practice include the use of interpersonal relationships and the management of difficult behaviours. Some of the disruptive ideas that were identified included the relationships between nurses and doctors, introduction of psychotropic medications and the introduction of recovery focused practice. The final chapter considers the implications of this study for research, education and practice. The unique qualities of psychiatric nursing are discussed considering the ideas evident in this study. Ideas for research include determining whether our current education practices adequately prepare nurses for practice. Ideas about education include a possible need to revisit some practices from the past such as supervision of postgraduate students but combining this with emerging technologies such as new videoconferencing applications. The unique qualities of psychiatric nurses are discussed using the paradigm of liminal space, that is, the space that nurses occupy between doctors and patients.