The nurse’s role in the administration of electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains one of the most controversial treatments in psychiatry. However, in the last 5 years several influential publications have emphasized the importance of taking into account service users’ viewpoints, thus ensuring their understanding of the process, including a detailed appreciation of unwanted effects such as memory loss.1-3 To fully appreciate their role, nurses need to be aware of the contemporary evidence base supporting ECT, relating this to the service users’ wishes.