The Role of the Forensic Psychiatric Nurse

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the role of the forensic psychiatric nurse by identifying the job activities performed by the forensic psychiatric nurse, identifying the forensic psychiatric nurse's perceived importance of_each job activity. The· job activities were grouped into three role categories: (1) task role, (2) clinical role, (3) academic role. Using Rheiner's theory, a conceptual model of the role of the forensic psychiatric nurse was constructed and the role performance further delineated in an additional model. The subjects for this study were registered nurses working in forensic psychiatric hospitals in the southeastern United States. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire of job activities of the forensic psychiatric.nurse plus a demographic data sheet. All questionnaires were self-administered. As a result of the analysis of data from those questionnaires returned, 73% of the subjects reported they perform job activities of the task role, 52% perform job activities of the clinical role, and 21% perform the job activities of the academic role. Because of the inconsistency and/or absence of data related to percentage of time invested in each job activity, the percentage of time invested in each role category could not be identified. Respondents indicated that, on :a scale{ of· one to three,-- they perceived the task- role as D most importan:t-:(2 ~-6) ,-.·the cii~icai ·rol~- as mod-erately important (2. 2), a:-nd ·-the- ·ac·ademic ::ron.=! ·as least important (2. 0). iv The findings of this study indicate that the greatest percentage of respondents perform job activities of the task role and perceive this role as most important. A greater percentage of respondents perform job activities in the clinical role than in the academic role. However, they perceive these two roles as moderately important. Since no research has been reported in the area of forensic psychiatric nursing, the implications for future research are vast. The implications for nursing practice are two-fold: (1) awareness of difference in practice, and (2) more emphasis on performance of clinical role.