"They're Really PD Today": An Exploration of Mental Health Nursing Students' Perceptions of Developing a Therapeutic Relationship With Patients With a Diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Jones, Emma orcid iconORCID: 0000-0002-2153-2781 and Wright, Karen Margaret orcid iconORCID: 0000-0003-0693-7294 (2015) "They're Really PD Today": An Exploration of Mental Health Nursing Students' Perceptions of Developing a Therapeutic Relationship With Patients With a Diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology . pp. 1-18. ISSN 0306-624X

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306624X15594838

Abstract

The therapeutic relationship is of particular importance when working with patients with antisocial personality disorder, but despite this, there is a paucity of literature exploring student nurses’ perceptions of developing a therapeutic relationship with such patients. Hence, this qualitative study explored the perceptions of second-year mental health nursing students of developing a therapeutic relationship with this patient group. Student nurses from a University in the Northwest of England participated in two focus groups, to compare the perceptions of a group of student nurses who had experience in secure settings (forensic hospital) with those who had not. Four key themes emerged: diagnosis, safety, engagement, and finally environmental influences. Both groups commented on looking beyond the diagnosis and seeing the person. The student nurses cited other staff in their clinical placement areas as hugely influential in terms of the development of their perceptions of patients with antisocial personality disorder and how to relate to them.


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