Len Bowers and colleagues describe the results of a study that looked at how expert nurses interact with patients who are acutely mentally ill

People with acute mental health problems display a range of challenging behaviours that can be difficult to deal with, especially for junior staff. This article contains extracts from a recently published monograph (Bowers et al 2009a) that describes how expert nurses use their experience and skills to maintain therapeutic interactions with patients who are psychotic or experiencing very strong emotions.