Every journey has its own story. The genesis of this guide goes back to the founding of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing. The first curriculum, introduced in 1961 under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, included a course entitled "Mental Illness and Nursing" Under the guidance of our founding director, Professor Perihan Velioğlu, and esteemed faculty members of Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, the course evolved over the years, with Ayser Yüksel, İkbal Aksoy and Çaylan Pektekin joining the faculty. In 1981, after the affiliation of our school to the Istanbul University Rectorate, the programme was first assigned to the Department of Psychiatric Nursing and in 1992 to the Department of Psychiatric Nursing as "Psychiatric Nursing". With the transition to faculty status, the title of the course was also changed to "Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing". In her seminal work "Intellectual Foundations of Nursing"," Professor Perihan Velioğlu describes the aim of psychiatric nursing as, helping patients to acquire and improve the potential required for a productive life in society. In this book, Velioğlu outlines specific strategies to remove barriers to a patient's development, serving as a guide for students taking this course. This guide is the result of the collective efforts made in our department since 1961. We sincerely thank all the faculty members who contributed to its creation. Within these pages you will find nursing models of mental health and psychiatric nursing management, guidance on preparing students for clinical practise, essential considerations, and standardised patient simulation studies that will greatly facilitate student preparation. The guide also addresses the most common cases encountered in psychiatric clinical practise and approaches to psychiatric nursing care. Forms that help students understand the importance of careful record keeping are an integral part of this guide. Psychiatric hospitals have special characteristics that are not common in other clinical settings and require a specialised approach to people with mental disorders who are hospitalised. In publishing this guide on the centenary of our Republic, we hope that it will serve as a supportive and enlightening tool in the planning and delivery of patient care in the field of mental health and psychiatric nursing practise (MHPN).

Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa
Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing
Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing Lecturers