A concept analysis of empowerment: its relationship to mental health nursing

The concept of empowerment is described as being intuitively attractive to nurses and the nursing profession. This concept analysis represents an attempt not only to clarify meaning but also to describe the relationship, if any, between empowerment and mental health nursing. It is the argument of this author that the conceptual ambiguity said to blight the implementation of empowerment practice is underpinned by a tendency to describe the concept without direct reference to theories of power. As regards mental health nursing the author concludes that there should be an end to the quest for professionalism personified by notions such as individualized care. In its place should be an approach that recognizes that nurses and users must unite to pursue forms of knowledge that precipitate a challenge to the current hegemony of the medical and scientific elite.