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Nurse–patient relationship: A dichotomy of expectations
Author(s) -
Moyle Wendy
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international journal of mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.911
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1447-0349
pISSN - 1445-8330
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-0979.2003.00276.x
Subject(s) - distancing , nurse–client relationship , psychology , therapeutic relationship , nursing practice , nursing , mental illness , mental health , social psychology , medicine , covid-19 , psychiatry , psychotherapist , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The nurse–patient relationship has traditionally been viewed as the essence of nursing practice. This paper disputes that the ideals of such a relationship occur effortlessly in nursing practice. Findings from a phenomenological study of individuals hospitalized with a depressive illness found that a therapeutic relationship did not come instinctively to the mental health nurses, and that there was a dichotomy between the close relationship expected by patients and the distant relationship provided by nurses. It is unclear whether nurses’ distancing behaviour was as a result of the participant's depressive illness, a normal part of nursing practice, or whether other features such as nurses’ workloads were an influencing factor. Further research is required to explore this issue.