There exists a wide range of opinion as to the place of the nurse in the management of psychiatric inpatients. Some writers1 have expressed the opinion that the nurse should maintain a "professional distance" so as not to interfere with the doctor's psychotherapeutic management of the patient. A number of other articles have stressed acceptance but objective uninvolvement as the attitude of choice for psychiatric nurses2 toward their patients. The following constitutes an example of another possibility for selected clinical cases in which the nurse plays a more important role in the management of psychiatric cases.
Previous Reports
From the beginning of the use of intensive psychotherapy for schizophrenia, nurses have been used as ancillary therapists. Federn,3 one of the pioneers of psychotherapy for psychotic patients, kept a "helper" with the patient in between sessions. Schwing,4 a nurse who