Abstract
The objective of this study was to identify factors influencing psychiatric nurses' awareness of social rehabilitation support and the structure of the factors. We conducted a semi-structured interview with 25 nurses working in a private psychiatric hospital and an analysis focusing on factors influencing the nurses' awareness of social rehabilitation support and on the nurse's attitudes influenced by the factors. One of the identified factors, "experience of delivering successful support that had led to patients' reintegration into society" instilled confidence in the nurses regarding the recovery of mentally ill patients, resulting in an improvement in their awareness of social rehabilitation support. Another factor, "working in wards where social rehabilitation is actively encouraged" increased opportunities to think about social rehabilitation support, and "learning about social rehabilitation support" helped clearly define the goal of social rehabilitation, which also improved the nurses' awareness of social rehabilitation support. "Cooperative family members" allowed the nurses to have expectations of support of patients' family members, while "uncooperative family members" caused the nurses to have concerns about the social life of the patients after discharge, leading to a decline in the awareness level. The factors "prolonged hospitalization," "prejudice," and "poor social resources" also raised concerns about the social life of the patient after discharge and decreased the nurses' awareness of social rehabilitation support.
