Patient Experiences of a Recovery-Oriented Nursing Programme in Inpatient Psychiatric Care: A Qualitative Study.
Caisa Öster, Caroline Falc, Joakim Vickman and 1 others
PMID 41498253WHAT IT FOUND
In psychiatric wards, patients said nurse-led recovery groups felt useful when sessions were voluntary, structured, and led by attentive staff.
Patients described the workbook and diary as tools to focus thoughts, plan for discharge, and continue strategies after leaving hospital.
Key findings
01Patients valued STR when group sessions were voluntary, structured, and allowed flexibility, and they described the diary as a concrete tool for reflection over time.
02Patients described STR as helping them structure and focus thoughts more positively, giving them language for their thoughts, and making the ward stay more active.
03Patients reported obstacles: short stays disrupted group continuity, quiet groups and stigma limited sharing, some leaders lacked flexibility or training, and early anxiety, confusion, depression, or memory gaps after electroconvulsive therapy made joining difficult.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used purposive sampling and included only patients who had attended STR at least once, so experiences of patients who did not attend or did not benefit may be missing. The findings come from a Swedish university hospital psychiatric clinic, so they may not transfer to other services or countries. Interviewers were registered nurses with psychiatric care experience, and analysing authors were lecturers with psychiatric inpatient experience, so professional perspectives may have shaped the analysis. Group leaders were mostly assistant nurses because of staff shortages, so the study reflects this implementation context rather than ideal specialist-led delivery. The study reports themes from interviews, not outcome measurements or comparisons, so it cannot show whether STR improves recovery.
Declared interests
The work was supported by Nasvell.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these positive experiences as proof that STR improves recovery outcomes. The study asked inpatients about their experiences and did not compare groups or measure clinical change.