Considering and responding to risk when working with people living with mental health problems

Risk is one of the most complex and anxiety provoking issues faced by mental health nurses, with huge potential for not only helping but also significantly harming service users. Often considered narrowly in terms of violence and suicide, risk is best thought of more broadly as the potential of losing something of value. ‘How to’ guides to risk may be fruitless when human beings are so complex, thus this chapter defines risk, identifies core foundational principles and relational practice required when working with service users, and presents models and discussion to aid critical thinking and reflection. The action/consequences model offers a thinking aid for decision making, considering how containing risk and tolerating risk can have a variety of outcomes, each of which can help or harm.