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Patient and Nurse Roles in the Therapeutic Community
Author(s) -
Yurkovich Eleanor
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
perspectives in psychiatric care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1744-6163
pISSN - 0031-5990
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6163.1989.tb01212.x
Subject(s) - facilitation , interpersonal communication , nursing , therapeutic relationship , interpersonal relationship , psychology , therapeutic community , social skills , medicine , psychotherapist , social psychology , neuroscience
A therapeutic community consists of an interdisciplinary team working collaboratively with the patient to maximize the patient's potential health. This process requires nursing facilitation of the patient's movement towards and assumption of behaviors inherent in the roles of newcomer, member, and leader. The nurse contributes to the therapeutic milieu in many ways: as a change agent of human behavior, as a manipulator of the dynamic environment, as a confronter of discrepancies, as a role model of interpersonal skills, and as an identified leader with diversified functional skills. The nurse enhances her utilization of the therapeutic community by knowledge of roles enacted by staff, patients, and self.