What Were the Nursing Practices of Mental Health Nurses in Mental Institutions 1800 to 1960: A Scoping Review

Abstract

This scoping literature review describes the practices of nurses working in mental asylums between 1800 and 1960 prior to the introduction of psychotropic drugs. Studies published in English from 1976 to 2021 from CINAHL, PubMed, ProQuest, PsyINFO, MEDLINE and Google were searched in August 2021. Twenty-three papers were retrieved with three distinct periods identified that shaped nursing practice. These were custodial care, moral and somatic treatment. Shifts in nursing practice were shaped by the desire of psychiatry to be recognised as a medical speciality, the feminisation of nursing and the formal development of nurse training in general hospitals.

Acknowledgments

This study was conducted in 2021 as part of an 8 month program on systematic and scoping literature reviews funded by the Health Workforce Academy, Central Queensland University under the direction of Dr. Lynn Parkinson

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest in this project.

Additional information

Funding

No funding will be sources or used in the preparation of this review.