Although recovery is integral to psychiatric mental health (PMH) nursing, inpatient care is still rooted in the medical model—an approach that charges nurses with patient safety and maintaining control of the unit. Judy Linn, BSN, MSN, John George Psychiatric Hospital, San Leandro, California, USA, discussed a program that teaches PMH nurses how to embrace recovery principles, instill hope, provide patient-centered care, and pave the way for healing.

Solution-focused brief therapy is a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the resources that patients possess and how they can be used to achieve positive change [Bond C et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2013]. As a goal-focused strategy, it helps clients change by creating solutions rather than dwelling on problems. Elements of the desired results are often in the person's life and become the basis for change.

According to Ms Linn, solution-focused assumptions are that change is constant and inevitable; the future is negotiated and created; small steps can lead to big changes; problems and solutions may not always be directly related; and no problem happens all the time. Using this stance enables PMH nurses to work with clients to describe the problem, develop well-formed goals, explore for exceptions, provide end-of-session feedback, and evaluate each client's progress.

Solution-focused therapy uses compliments to help patients become aware of behaviors that are good for them; it validates and reinforces positive thoughts, feelings, and actions related to the goal. The client evaluates his or her own progress, and the therapist stresses that his or her evaluation is more important than that of the staff member. The follow-up process—E-A-R-S—stands for elicit, amplify, reinforce, start again.

The program at the University of Colorado Hospital achieved 100% patient satisfaction on the national Press-Ganey patient survey. Staff engagement scores as measured by Press-Ganey were the highest in the University system. At Alameda Health System John George Psychiatric Hospital, the program attained 93% patient satisfaction.

Solution-focused therapy facilitates application of recovery principles, instills hope, and serves as an impetus for healing in patients. Dialectal behavior therapy is another approach that can be used alone or in combination with patient-centered care to improve the odds of recovery.

PMH nursing and gains in professional satisfaction are evolving through the practice of proven core standards. The solution-focused therapy program showed that patient-centered therapy enables PMH nurses to optimize care and assist clients to hone tools for recovery.

Solution-focused strategies and other approaches, such as cognitive-behavioral treatment and dialectical behavioral therapy, have added to the armamentarium of mental health tools that can support patients in their recovery journey toward healthier, happier, and more productive lives.