"This stimulating book looks at care of a person rather than
treatment of a patient, emphasising rather than cold clinical
procedure, and recovery rather than cure.
Clinical staff, managers and policy makers should pay heed to this
book."
- Reviewed by; Community mental health nurse, Wigan. Nursing
Standard:: August 8:: vol 21 no 48:: 2007
------------------------------------------------------------- "This
book throws out a timely challenge to current practice in the
mental health nursing of suicidal people. 'Close observation',
driven by a culture of risk assessment, has become the default
setting for suicide prevention in inpatient settings, but, as the
authors point out, observation isn't synonymous with care.
Based on their own in-depth interviews with suicidal people, the
authors argue that nurses must stop watching their patients and
start engaging with them, providing intense, human warmth to help
people who are profoundly disconnected from social and family
contacts to re-engage with humanity. They outline the core
psychological processes that can be used to achieve this, and their
methodology of grounded theory provided a conceptual overview to
aid readers' understanding of this complex subject, with quotes
from interviewees as useful illustrations.
I like the down-to-earthiness of the practice discussion points.
Who could argue with the propositions that nurses should be
comfortable talking about suicide, that they should be prepared to
listen rather than talk, and that interpersonal, care-based work
should replace risk-orientated work and medication, with nursing
care firmly rooted in the recovery model?
The authors also discuss the implications for future research and
policy, and ethical and legal issues, while the final chapter
addresses the important contribution of suicide survivors to the
care of other suicidal people.
This book provides clear messages for qualified nurses and those in
training, and for psychiatrists. It should be widely available to
all mental health staff."
- Reviewed by Lesley Warner, Mental Health Today, December 2007
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