The attitudes of mental health nurses that support a positive therapeutic relationship: The perspective of people diagnosed with BPD

Introduction: The therapeutic relationship between mental health nurses and people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is essential to successful treat-ment, and nurses’ attitudes are a key component of this relationship. Some nurses develop positive therapeutic relationships with people diagnosed with BPD, while others have negative emotional reactions which in turn limit their ability to develop a positive therapeutic relationship. There is a gap in the literature with respect to how people diagnosed with BPD perceive the attitudes of mental health nurses that foster a positive therapeutic relationship.Aim: To describe how people diagnosed with BPD who have experienced an improve-ment perceive the role of the attitudes of mental health nurses in building a positive therapeutic relationship.Method: Qualitative descriptive design with 12 interviews; thematic content analysis.Results: Participants identified five attitudes of mental health nurses as contribut-ing to a positive therapeutic relationship: confidence in their ability to recover, non- judgement, humour, availability and humanity.Discussion: Nurses’ attitudes are key to the therapeutic relationship. It may be pos-sible for nurses to improve their attitudes towards patients diagnosed with BPD through self- reflection.Implications for practice: Mental health nurses should incorporate methods that ex-plore attitudes and attitudinal development of the workforce