Observations of community mental health nursing work with consumers: Field narratives as a means of dialogue in collaborative ethnographic research: Field narratives of CMHNs work with consumers

This paper presents research from a collaborative ethnography in a community mental health setting in Melbourne Australia. The researcher made participative observations of interactions between community mental health nurses (n= 7) and mental health consumers (n -= 7). Individual interviews of the consumer and then the nurse followed. Field narratives provide a bridge between the past, present and future of events and practices and result in a polyphonic gaze by different participants describing the event. This process is iterative, reflexive and dialogic, which enriches not only the knowledge of the interaction but also provides a mosaic of different interpretations to a wider interested audience. Consumers identified the nurse as a companion I friend but they could also identify the boundaries that existed in the relationship. Several consumers would only reveal part of their need thus a long term relationship was required as is evident in case management. Nurses were central to the care of all these consumers and consumers identified the nurse as the person they felt most close to in the working relationship. Consumers felt nurses were able to make a difference to their life.