Growing support for the role of the psychiatric consultation-liaison nurse in assisting general nurses in caring for patients experiencing mental health problems in the general hospital environment is evident from the relevant literature. However, there remains a paucity of research which examines the process of this nursing role or its impact on outcomes for nurses and patients. This paper see...

An initial survey was carried out in Glenside Hospital in 1960 because it was felt that "a large proportion of all patients under care in mental hospitals show no serious disturbance of behaviour, and their retention is determined largely by social factors."' That survey was followed four years later by a similar review,2 which recommended a precise overall national plan for the future of menta...

rnany as possible of the large mental hospitals within the next fifteen years, basing the future service on psychiatric units and community care. If psychiatric units in general hospitals are to be the basis of the service, it is vital that there should be a great deal thought and discussion before it is finally decided how they are to be organised. None of us want to keep the present huge and ...