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Special Hospital seclusion and its clinical variations
Author(s) -
MASON TOM
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2702.1993.tb00142.x
Subject(s) - seclusion , terminology , intervention (counseling) , hearsay , medicine , nursing , mental health , psychology , psychiatry , law , political science , linguistics , philosophy
Summary• The terminology used in the published literature to indicate that a patient is being denied, or is denying themself, the company of other people is wide and varied. • With ever growing concerns of the rights, both civil and legal, of patients receiving treatment, either solicited or unsolicited, there is a need to identify the patterns of practice in any given organization and to establish their relationship to the terminological semantic. • The Special Hospitals, who cater for those patients requiring a high degree of security, have been assumed to use seclusion to a greater degree than any other form of personal‐space facility, either forced by the staff or elected by the patient. However, this has largely been based on hearsay and speculation. • Seclusion may be perceived as a clinical psychiatric intervention to prevent the serious deterioration of a person's mental state or as a method of containment of a dangerous situation when all else fails. • This study was based on a survey of all seclusion facilities within the Special Hospital system and discussions with over 100 nursing staff about the differing types and methods of providing patient withdrawal from the ward community for whatever reason. • The results highlighted a clear uniformity of practice throughout the system despite the differing terminologies used.