ABSTRACT
One theme of academic discourse and research in mental health nursing is the exploration and application of psychosocial models of nursing practice. Despite this, the influence of disciplinary psychological knowledge on practitioners' talk about nursing practice has not been extensively researched. To address this gap, the authors analyzed talk about psychological work using transcripts of 10 focus groups involving 59 mental health nurses. Nurses identified a psychological domain of practice as central to their work. Given the amount of time spent with clients, nurses are the prime resource for psychological work. Psychological talk was organized into three categories related to the nursing process and organizational context and analyzed through empowerment and critical perspectives on power. Although technical ("formal") and everyday ("informal") discourses were generally well integrated, the authors question the oral basis to this body of knowledge in terms of accountability to service users and as a marker of disempowerment.
