Suggestions for the reorganization of nurse training and improvement of patient care in a hospital for the mentally handicapped

Traditionally, the service requirements of hospitals and the health service have dominated the educational needs of training nurses. With the impending implementation of the Briggs Report on Nursing, the relationship between service and educational needs, especially the regulation for clinical experience, requires fresh thought. The author argues, taking one mental hospital as an example, that the present regulations for clinical experience, in the existing hospital structure, have negative effects both on the quality of nurse education and on the quality of patient care. He argues that both patient care and nurse education can be improved by a rethinking of the regulation for clinical experience and a change in the structure of mental handicap hospitals.