This article aims to rescue aspects of the performing therapeutic of the Day Hospital (HD) Dr. Élger Nunes, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, during its term, and analyze the results regarding to the number of patients assisted from 1996 to 2004. This is an empirical, descriptive and exploratory study, ex post facto with a quantitative approach, carried out from records of 910 people attended in the hospital. The data was submitted to the informational resource software Microsoft Excel and converted into diagrams. The results shows a greater accessibility to this treatment modality, decreasing in hospitalization-time length and improving hospital discharge conditions for users, with reduction in number of patients who interrupted treatment. It focus on the importance of the Day Hospital in the process of psychiatric reform, with care grounded on the use of the humanized therapeutic practices, and still not losing the bond with family and society.
Psychiatric nursing; Health mental; Hospitals, day; Mental health services
