Relationship Development and Therapeutic Communication
- The nurse–patient relationship is the foundation on which psychiatric nursing is established.
- The therapeutic interpersonal relationship is the process by which nurses provide care for patients in need of psychosocial intervention.
- Therapeutic use of self is the instrument for delivery of care to patients in need of psychosocial intervention.
- Therapeutic nurse–patient relationships can occur only when each views the other as a unique human being. When this occurs, both participants have needs met by the relationship
- Goals are often achieved through use of the problem-solving model.
- Identify the patient’s problem.
- Promote discussion of desired changes.
- Discuss aspects that cannot realistically be changed and ways to cope with them more adaptively.
- Discuss alternative strategies for creating changes that the patient desires to make.
- Goals and the problem-solving model
- Weigh benefits and consequences of each alternative.
- Help patient select an alternative.
- Encourage patient to implement the change.
- Provide positive feedback for patient’s attempts to create change.
- Help patient evaluate outcomes of the change and make modifications as required.
Therapeutic Use of Self
- Ability to use one’s personality consciously and in full awareness in an attempt to establish relatedness and to structure nursing interventions
- Nurses must possess self-awareness, self-understanding, and a philosophical belief about life, death, and the overall human condition
