ABSTRACT
Objectives:
Identify psychiatric nursing practices in the mediation of autonomy for social individuals compromised by their psychiatric history, and analyze psychiatric nursing practices focused on the autonomy of individuals who attend a type III psychosocial care center.
Methods:
Convergent-care research using observation and semi-structured interviews with seven RN nurses from a psychosocial care center and four educational groups in the year 2013. Data analysis used social constructivism as its foundation.
Results:
Autonomy is presented as a care action that enables users to be the protagonists of their own lives, recognizing their limits and possibilities. Even with mental conditions, patients' potentialities must be recognized.
Conclusion:
Nurses invest in autonomy and liberty as foundations of care to be stimulated, mediated, or negotiated.
Implications for practice:
The inclusion of "autonomy mediating" as a care action for patients is emphasized.
Keywords:
Psychiatric Nursing; Community Mental Health Services; Mental Health; Nursing Care; Personal Autonomy