This study sought to 1) uncover trends in research on nursing practice in relation to the 2003 Medical Treatment and Supervision Act, 2) analyze these trends, and 3) examine related issues in nursing practice. We used the Ichushi Web database to search for literature between 2003—the year of the act’s enactment—and September 2019. Twenty-six documents were analyzed. We categorized nursing practice into the following six groups: “care coordinator,” “interviews and orientations during hospitalization,” “confirmation of patients’ offending, deepening of their reflection, acquisition of awareness of their illness,” “risk management,” and “treatment after discharge.”

Challenges in nursing practice were also identified, such as, the awareness of nurse’s expected role within the multi-disciplinary team or nursing team, the implementation of nursing care based on care that deepens introspection of patients who violate the law, and the improvement of nurses’ abilities to express opinions.

Medical treatment based on this law is addressed as a policy in mental health care, and it is important to standardize the quality of medical care. In the future, a survey is expected to be conducted on the status of nursing practice at each facility.

This study examined educational interventions that promote the critical thinking disposition of psychiatric nurses and their effects.

Our educational program reflected a situation in which psychiatric nurses judged the physical symptoms of schizophrenic patients.

Intervention was carried out using a quasi-experimental (one-group pre-test/post-test) design, and the study subjects comprised 23 nurses with less than 5 years of clinical psychiatric experience who had no physical psychiatric experience.

Before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention, we measured and compared the median of the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (CTDS). Then, one month after the intervention, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 10 participants.

The purpose of the semi-structured interview was to qualitatively clarify the situation in which the physical symptoms of schizophrenic patients were judged and to confirm the growth of participants.

The median CTDS significantly increased both immediately after the intervention and one month after the intervention compared with before the intervention.

In addition, based on the interviews, categories were created to represent changes and growth in terms of the nurses’ judgment of physical symptoms. As a result, this educational program was found to promote critical thinking.

The objective of this study was to clarify psychiatric nurses’ experiences, and factors influencing them when supporting patients facing difficulties after traumatic events, and identify related challenges.

Data obtained through semi-structured interviews with 8 psychiatric nurses were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed. While developing a sense of difficulty in supporting patients, and hesitating to deal with their trauma, the psychiatric nurses supported them, focusing on their current problems. Trauma-focused nursing support was influenced by interpersonal characteristics of patients , nurses’ stability, and an environment that facilitates dealing with trauma. It was characterized by two patterns: a decrease in nursing support that avoids trauma-related problems, and an increase in trauma patient-centered nursing support. When providing nursing support, nurses tended to avoid active commitments to patients due to a lack of experience and confidence in trauma-focused nursing.

To resolve this, basic knowledge of trauma and education for emotional literacy may be required. The necessity of early collaboration with supporters and related institutions, with the aim of providing post-discharge support, was also suggested.

This study aimed to clarify the involvement of expert nurses with patients upon their nonconsensual initial admission to the psychiatric ward. We performed a qualitative descriptive analysis and conducted a semi-structured interview on nine nurses who have been involved with patients upon their nonconsensual initial admission to the psychiatric ward and had more than 10 years of experience at the psychiatric ward.

With their involvement with patients upon their nonconsensual initial admission to the psychiatric ward, these expert nurses “relieved the shock upon hospitalization” immediately after their admission. Subsequently, while “keeping pace with patients’ demand,” they “created a point of contact with patients.” After creating a point of contact with patients, while emphasizing on “knowing patients’ experience,” they “provided feedbacks to patients,” “encouraged patients to participate in treatments,” “acted with patients,” and “made use of patients’ strengths.” Moreover, it was revealed that expert nurses “take responsibility for being involved as a nurse” with a sense of responsibility, influencing the patients’ lives through their overall involvement.

The purpose of this study was to explore how the family members of patients with depression are affected by the depression, and how they deal with its influence based on the spouses’ recognition about the patients with depression. The participants, who took part in semi-structured interviews, were 5 spouses married to depressed patients. The data obtained were qualitatively analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. The results were as follows. We extracted four categories consisting of 18 concepts such as “life base and daily life shaken by depression” as depression’s effect on the spouse and other family members of the patient. We also dealt with five categories and 17 concepts such as “Do not step over into patients with depression” for coping with family depression. While depression had a major impact on family life in general, it had not only a negative impact but also a positive effect on the family.

In response to the influence brought to the family by depression, spouses of patients with depression and their family members reported that they maintained marital relations while being supported by positive influences such as deepening of bonds with in-laws. In addition, they might not be overstressed by patients with depression, keeping them at a reasonable distance, and being involved without too much focus on negative aspects.

Purpose: To describe the narratives of helping professionals in nursing homes who provide care to elderly residents with mental illness and examine issues faced by staff relating to the provision of care.

Methods: Qualitative research was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with 26 care staff members from six nursing homes. Participants responded freely to questions that centered around three topics: (1) their perceptions regarding residents with mental illness, (2) their impressions about care experiences, and (3) their feelings and thoughts about providing care. Thematic analysis was conducted on the data which had been recorded using an IC recorder.

Results: The analysis of the interviews revealed that the participants considered elderly residents with mental illness in the same regard as all nursing home residents. They described experiences of providing care, focusing on “building good relations with the residents.” However, they reported feeling upset when residents sometimes exhibited aggressive behaviors, experiencing “hurt in relations with the residents.” Even though the caregivers had, at times, been emotionally wounded by residents with mental illness, they had also been able to recover from such painful experiences.

Conclusion: The hurt feelings experienced by staff members in their relationships with residents were determined to be mostly related to the staff members’ self-esteem. The results identified the most important issues for staff are difficulties in caring for residents exhibiting aggressive behaviors and indicated the necessity of providing caregivers support to help them process hurt feelings when residents lash out at‍ ‍them.

The goal of this study is to clarify the state of care in aspiration pneumonia prevention as experienced by psychiatric nurses and to obtain ideas about support in improving quality of life (QOL) in terms of aspiration pneumonia prevention and patients’ dietary habits.

Focus group interviews were conducted with 55 nursing staff members employed in 16 psychiatric hospitals in A Prefecture and qualitative inductive analysis was performed on the data collected.

Since “aspiration pneumonia preventive care in a psychiatric ward is problematic,” psychiatric nurses proposed care based on their strong desire to avoid the risk of pulmonary aspiration (i.e. food, etc. “going down the wrong way”) or suffocation happening before their eyes.

On the other hand, since food is an important element in QOL for mentally-handicapped patients, they tried to provide care that “prioritized QOL in terms of food.” Moreover, as part of their nursing work, “they provided everyday living support that they considered to be effective in preventing aspiration pneumonia.” They also incorporated “team care that made the most of the strengths of “psychiatric medical care” in a restricted environment.

The results of the study showed the state of care among nurses amid the lack of effective resources in psychiatric hospitals and the particular difficulties associated with looking after psychiatric patients. The research suggests the importance of going back to basics in terms of the individual needs of each patient and of getting to grips with multi-disciplinary coordination and comprehensive support.