ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses nursing care in a multidisciplinary context in secure mental health settings; sometimes called forensic nursing. Forensic services are typically defined in terms of their role in protecting the public from risk associated with mental disorder. Similarly, the ‘forensic’ label is not universally approved of, but it has been adopted internationally and again indicates the nexus between mental health care and criminal legal systems. Forensic care is provided in a range of services; typically inpatient secures units designated at different levels of security, but there are also community forensic services. Practitioners associated with the more broadly cast Implementing Recovery through Organisational Change initiative have been developing ideas for guiding recovery practices within forensic settings, and numerous recovery-orientated practices are now at the cutting edge of innovation in mental health services. High secure hospitals, for instance, have developed a range of participatory initiatives and championed meaningful occupation based upon the Recovery College model.
