Abstract
Psychiatric liaison nursing, first conceptualized in the early sixties, evolved from a perceived need to address the psychosocial problems experienced by patients who were hospitalized for treatment of physical illness. Early practitioners tended to be educators and clinical supervisors who collaborated part-time with psychiatric liaison services associated with departments of psychiatry. Consultation with nursing staffs provided indirect care to liaison patients. Papers of the later sixties and early seventies described role models and delineated hierarchy, accountability, function, and supervision. Articles also began to appear about specific patient phenomena and liaison nursing interventions. The mid-seventies yielded a proliferation of position descriptions and the introduction of educational programs to prepare psychiatric liaison nurses at the master's level. The late seventies and early eighties have seen some elaboration of theory-based practice and further evolution of the liaison role. Research data have been cited and problems identified for ongoing study.
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