·Nursing Role in the Outcome of Schizophrenia" The effects of a nursing care programme on the patients and their relatives

Abstract

Schizophrenia is the paradigmatic illness of psychiatry. It is a clinical syndrome of variable but profoundly disruptive psychopathology, which involves thought, perception, emotion, movement, and behavior. The expression of these symptoms varies across patients and over time, but the cumulative effect of the il1ness is always severe and usually long lasting.

The primary tenet of psychosocial rehabilitation advocates viewing the mentally ill as people with disabilities who share the same aspirations as other persons. People with psychiatric disabilities want safe, affordable housing, the opportunity to work for fair wages, the opportunity to learn, time to enjoy social and leisure activities, involvement in the communities where they live, and most of all, families, and friends who love and care about them. The benefits from psychosocial treatment may be temporary and that many patients require on going intervention to maintain their treatment gains. This understanding is compatible with the recognition that schizophrenia is a lifelong disability, and more realistic expectations on the part of therapists, patients, and patients' relatives are needed.

The most important activity in which the psychiatric-mental health nurse can engage is that of instilling hope and optimism by providing active encouragement. Active encouragement helps to shape an individual's motivation toward thinking about, and planning for, employment and work. The psychiatric mental health nurse may be in the best position to offer any real support as an individual begins to think about what he / she will do following an acute exacerbation of symptoms and stabilization efforts.

This study was carried out to explore the effects of a planned nursing care programme to chronic schizophrenic patients and their relatives on the outcome of patients' condition through one-year follow-up after discharge from hospital.