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Rob Ryan, PhD Candidate

Rob Ryan

Thesis title: The Doctrine of Insight – Exploring the Impact of Insight on Mental Health Nursing Practice – (2010) Collaborative Psychiatric Nursing Conference, Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia.

Supervisors: Professor Brenda Happell, Professor Lorna Moxham

Summary: Insight or its clinical derivative, lack of insight, are terms that are continually branded around mental health nursing. What do mental health nurses mean when they say a person lacks insight and are there criteria to support professional opinion? This study using grounded theory methodology critically examines the concept of insight. Mental health nurses from a broad range of practice areas were interviewed and asked to describe insight and articulate how assessments are made. The preliminary findings suggest that there is no unitary professional opinion on what is insight. The concept is loosely tethered to biomedical paradigms about awareness of illness and symptoms that fail to take into account personal experiences of mental health and illness.