Transferring anonymity for a few choice words

SummaryThis paper seeks to address a range of unconscious organisational, professional and educational processes that impact upon the provision of mental health nursing care and the service users experiences of this care. These can often result in a state of anomie for the service user and inhibit real choice being a feature within therapeutic relationships. The paper argues that mental health nurses do not set out to practice in this way, but because of the unconscious nature of many of their responses, their practice is often restricting and only serves to reinforce traditional professional/patient relationships. Using a psychoanalytical approach to data analysis, these unconscious processes are examined. A possible way to address these concerns is posited that advocates greater direct involvement of service users in the educational processes of nurses.