Psychiatric nurses’ understanding of the therapeutic milieu in a male acute ward of a Psychiatric Institution in Limpopo Province

Abstract

A therapeutic milieu is a scientific construction of a safe recovery environment to improve the psychological health of patients with  mental illness. This study aimed to explore and describe psychiatric nurses’ understanding of the therapeutic milieu in a male acute ward  of a psychiatric institution. The study context is a male acute ward of a psychiatric institution. A qualitative explorative and  descriptive design was used. Non-probability purposive, sampling was used to collect data in focus group interviews. Tesch’s technique  was employed to analyse data. Trustworthiness and ethical considerations were ensured. Three themes emerged from the results:  Nurses’ understanding of the therapeutic milieu; reconsidering the therapeutic milieu; and sustaining a therapeutic milieu. This study’s  findings call for redesigning the ward infrastructure to meet the requirements of the acute psychiatric units to improve the quality of  mental health care.