Knowledge and Attitudes of Nurses toward Concept of Milieu Therapy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Beni Suef University

2 Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing,Ain Shams University.

Abstract

Background: Therapeutic milieu refers to an environment that is structured to provide
patients with the opportunity to interact with staff and other clients. Producing a therapeutic
milieu is a basic intervention in mental health nursing practice. Consequently sufficient
knowledge and positive attitudes are important aspects of providing nursing care for psychiatric
patients within the current social climate. This study aimed to assess knowledge and attitudes of
nurses toward the concept of milieu therapy. This study was exploratory descriptive, performed
on 100 nurses working with psychiatric patients at El-Abbassia Mental Health hospital. Data were
collected using three parties, socio-demographic data, and knowledgeof nurses about the milieu
therapy and the attitudes of nurses toward milieu therapy. The results of this study showed that
nurses working with psychiatric patients possess a satisfied level of knowledge about the
definition and aim of milieu therapy (75%) meanwhile; they have unsatisfying knowledge about
activity therapy (52%). However, the studied nurses showed a high level of sympathetic attitudes
toward psychiatric patients (74%), the negative attitudes toward milieu therapy was observed in
(90%).Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that the nurses with satisfactory
knowledge were more probable to have a positive attitude towards the milieu therapy. The study
recommended that in-service education programs should be provided to nurses working with
psychiatric patients regarding knowledge about activity therapy and how to promote patient
participation.

Keywords