'I felt alive': A qualitative study of inpatients' perspectives on good mental health nursing in South Korea.

Abstract

Although mental health nurses continuously strive for patients' well-being, patients still experience inpatient care negatively. To identify an individual's actual, mental health nursing care needs and offers them optimal benefits during their hospital stay, determining what patients perceive as good nursing should be prioritized. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to understand good mental health nursing from the inpatients' perspective. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 13 patients admitted to a psychiatric ward in South Korea, and analysed using thematic analysis. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guidelines were used to ensure transparency and rigour. The results revealed that patients experienced good mental health nursing when nurses respected their humanity, adopted a practical approach to solve problems pragmatically, and facilitated their recovery. These practices stem from mental health nurses' attitudes towards humanity based on individualized respect, professional ability to handle patients' individual needs, and offering patients hope and confidence for recovery and the future. Therefore, mental health nurses need to focus their efforts on these aspects of nursing attitudes and competencies to ensure that inpatients experience good mental health nursing.