ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some complex situations that arose when patients from a psychiatric rehabilitation inpatient unit went on outings in the community. Aleksandra Novakovic was facilitator for a staff group for nurses on a psychiatric inpatient rehabilitation unit. The group aimed to enable staff to think together about rehabilitation work and about their own experiences and the feelings stirred up in them in their work with the patients. The unit consisted of 12 patients and 16 full-time nurses and nursing assistants who worked in shifts; the occupational therapist, the clinical psychologist, and a psychiatrist were involved part-time. All patients suffered from a chronic psychotic illness, most with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and most were between 30 and 50 years old. The aim of the unit was to engage the patients in rehabilitation, to support the development of the skills they would need to lead a more independent life, and to facilitate their move into the community.
