Teaching Attendants to Cope with Stressful Patient Situations

prepared to give it. Inservice programs for attendants usually focus on basic, mechanical nursing skills. These may be interspersed with class periods containing some integrated comment on the necessity of developing meaningful communications skills. Once attendants, armed with varying degrees of assimilated nursing skills, are assigned to positions on a psychiatric unit, there is no fur her questioning of their qualificati ns. They were present for all orientation classes and, perhaps, passed civil service examinations. If they are asked which makes them feel more comfortable-occupying themselves in the nurses' station, playing cards with patients, writing observation notes on the chart, or escorting patients to and from activitie -the answers can very often be reduced to the common denomi-