Ethnographic Data Generation in a Mental Health Setting: The Role of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurses

Abstract

Psychiatric and mental health nurses work with clients suffering from various mental health problems with complex needs. This article discusses focused ethnography as a tool to develop mental health care: careful planning of the field work, incorporating several data sets, data generation within a reflective stance and changing the researcher’s role intentionally during the field study. An open and participatory role is suggested to make discoveries. The lifeworld method requires scrutinizing and further discussion on the benefit to mental health care. Psychiatric and mental health nurses can use their professional expertise in the process.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank Professor Päivi Åstedt-Kurki for her contributions, and the clients and service providers who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Finnish Nursing Education Foundation.