Reconceptualizingthe theory-practice gap in mental health nursing

Reflections on the process of change on acute psychiatric wards during the City Nurse Project

“…Areas of development that City Nurses had an impact on included looking at communication in handovers, care planning and bridging the gap between research and the real world. In fact, Hopton (1996) proposed that any approach which addresses the theory–practice gap in mental health nursing must necessitate a unified model of clinical nursing practice, alongside any nurse education. The framework of the City Nurse Project enabled the researchers to address this via patient review sessions, clinical supervision, reflective practice sessions and in staff groups.…”

Am I flogging a dead metaphor? Sloppy scholarship and the implied spider

“…Stevenson et al. (2002) assert, ‘The underpinning philosophy of the model is that people can recover their lives that have been interrupted by the experience and stress of breakdown.’ Ironically this is a view (recovery) expressed with some clarity by Hopton (1996) whom Phil misrepresents above. Be‐that‐as‐it‐may, in defence of their philosophy the authors call MacIntyre (1981).…”

“…The quote he uses repeatedly including in this journal in 2001 (Barker 2001a) is, ‘there can be no serious objection in principle to establishing the discipline of psychiatric nursing on nursing theory, or to the construction of nursing models to support the enactment of nursing practice. Indeed the development of such a theory‐based model of nursing could be described as a professional obligation (Hopton 1996). ’ The difficulty with this is that a reading of the primary source reveals that Hopton said no such thing.…”

The Tidal Model: Developing a Person-Centered Approach to Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

“…Some nurses have explored the possibilities of established general nursing theories or models for mental health nursing practice (Haskerud, 2000;Jones, 1996;Murphy et al, 2000). However, despite a consistent academic critique of the myriad assumptions of medical and biopsychosocial model (Barker, 1997;Hopton, 1996), many nurses appear satisfied to settle pragmatically for a subordinate role within a medically dominated mental health service (Abbondanza et al, 1994;Warner, 1993).…”

“…Although reservations have been expressed about the appropriateness of some models of nursing for mental health nursing (Barker & Reynolds, 1994), there can be no serious objection in principle to establishing the discipline of psychiatric nursing on nursing theory, or to the construction of nursing models to support the enactment of nursing practice. Indeed, the establishment of such a theory-based model of nursing practice could be described as a professional obligation (Hopton, 1996).…”