Clients' perceptions of client-nurse relationships in local authority psychiatric services: a qualitative study.

The Mental Health Care reform in Sweden aimed, among other things, to improve the possibilities for persons with mental illnesses to experience companionship and participation in society. The aim of the study was to describe how persons suffering from mental illness perceive their relationships with nursing staff in local authority psychiatric services. Data were collected through semi-structured recorded interviews with 17 strategically chosen clients. A qualitative approach inspired by phenomenography was used to analyse the data. The analysis resulted in four main categories and 13 subcategories. The main categories were: security, companionship, confirmation and development.