Seeking a clarification of meaning: a phenomenological interpretation of the craft of mental health nursing

This paper gives a description of mental health nursing practice provided by nurses working in a community mental health resource centre, in an inner city area of a northern English city. The centre offered a mental health service for a mixed client group who had enduring and/or acute mental health problems. The nurses engaged as the subjects in a phenomenological study of the nature and meaning of their practice in order to improve the care they gave the clients. The findings from the study suggest that, for the nurses, the meaning of nursing was characterized by holism, relationship-building, partnership and empowerment. The findings revealed that the aim of nursing was to promote a positive self-concept in clients and this was achieved by exploring the lived experience of the client and the nurse through relationship-building processes.