Therapeutic Communication Nursing

“Self awareness is a state of being where you deeply understand your thoughts, emotions and behaviours and how they affect people and the world around them. When people are self aware they move beyond simply existing or reacting to their environment to deliberately living a fulfilling and meaningful life. People get to know the real of them and do things that reflect who they are deep inside” (Source: internet).

Rawlinson, (1990) defines self-awareness as a conscious process in which we consider our understanding of ourselves. Having self-awareness and the ability to reflect means you can assess your own knowledge, skills and behaviours (NCL, 2014). In order to improve the quality of care and develop skills and confidence, one must reflect on their self-awareness experiences, to reach their full potential of practise. To define reflection Duffy (2008) describes reflective practise as an active and deliberate process to critically examine practice. Through self-awareness individuals can get to know more about what they do and what limits their abilities (Ghaye and Lillyman, 2001). Thus improving the quality of care provided to service users, as nurses have the responsible for providing care to the best of their ability to patients and their families.

The five following questions are a great way to discuss today’s communication in the health care field; this paper will give a better explanation on what therapeutic communications are, cultural blindness as well as cultural competence, and identifying cultural backgrounds. Working in the health care field we use these very few things every day without even realizing it. It is important that health care professionals have a clear understanding about these concepts to provide the proper care to patients.

There are many ways of forming a relationship and gaining the trust and respect of the patient and I had to work out the different things that make a good therapeutic relationship. According to Hinchliff et al (2003) there are a number of important elements that make a good therapeutic relationship, but it is important to make clear that a therapeutic relationship is a formal relationship between a medical professional and patient. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) maintains that at all times nursing staff must maintain appropriate professional boundaries in the relationships they have with patients and clients.

A therapeutic relationship is a key component in the nursing profession. Without therapeutic relationships, the best possible care can never be provided. The foundation in which trust is built upon is created from the nurse’s ability to truly listen and respond appropriately. Listening creates the base in developing a strong, trusting relationship. Sometimes it is simply hearing what a patient says that makes all the difference, empowering them to open up and become more comfortable with the nurse (Hawkins-Walsh, 2000).

A nurse-patient relationship is the basic requirements in all practice settings. Its usage is to manage communication between an organization and a public while maintaining boundaries in the therapeutic relationship. Based on Peplau’s interpersonal theory, communication takes place in a nurse-client relationship where therapeutic process occurs involving complex factors such as environment, attitudes, practices, and beliefs in the dominant culture (seu.edu, 2015). The actions of each person in a nurse-patient relationship is measured on the collaboration of their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Nurse’s work to attain, maintain, and restore the patient’s health until patient have fulfilled the health care needs. Patient must be guided and provided a well-respected environment until a better health and specific needs are fully considered in the relationship. In this kind of setting, nurse’s must create relationship with patients by communicating receptivity, assimilating the concepts of empathy, trust, genuineness, respect, and confidentiality into their interactions.

Effective communication in the healthcare setting improves recovery rates and reduces pain and complication rates. (Wilkinson et al, 2003). Many complaints to the NHS are attributed to poor communication. Effective communication is reliant on the nurse working in partnership with the patient. It is essential that the nurse establishes a rapport and most of this will be achieved through the use of facial expressions. In my practice, it is important that develop a therapeutic relationship with the patients so that they can be able to put their trust in me. The therapeutic relationship is solely to meet the needs of the patient. In this relationship, there is a rapport established from a sense of mutual understanding and trust. To build a good nurse-patient relationship, I would have to show qualities of empathy, caring, sincerity and trustworthiness. During practice, if I am approaching a patient and the patient looks anxious, I should approach with empathy.

The therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is known as a close and consistent connection approaching during patients’

Mr. Comer was admitted to his local community hospital for respite care. He has suffered multiple, acute strokes in the past, which has left him with severe disabilities. These include paralysis rendering him immobile, aphasia (speech loss) and dysphagia (swallowing difficulties). He relies on carers for all normal activities required for daily living (Roper et al 1996) and is advised to have a pureed diet and thickened fluids.

Possessing self-awareness is key to knowing and understanding the different attitudes, beliefs, and values one has and understanding when differences could affect them. An example

A therapeutic relationship is a professional, inter-personal alliance in which the nurse and client join together for a defined period to achieve health-related treatment goals (Chauhan & Long, 2000), which may only last for a short period of time but

Self-awareness is a terminology that has been widely discussed in not only psychological but also business and managerial perspectives. There are a number of authors trying to propose different definitions of it.

Within nursing, there is a very delicate balance between a nurse and her patient that must be maintained if the patient is to receive the care that he or she is entitled to receive. The patient must feel comfortable trusting his nurse to hear his needs and respond to them appropriately and in order for this to be the case, the nurse must first provide therapeutic communication effective enough to elicit such a response in her patient. There are both verbal and non-verbal components within the nurse-patient relationship. These components greatly influence how a nurse and patient will relate to each other and, ultimately, greatly influence the care that the patient receives.

Therapeutic Communication has a huge impact on patients, whether, we, as nurses, see it or not. It is very important for a nurse to gain a patient’s trust. Many patients are already filled with sadness, nervousness and unsure thoughts of their current situation. Such thoughts may make a person scared to trust or open up to a nurse or doctor. Developing a close rapport with a patient can help to create a safe, warming environment, resulting in a positive experience throughout their time in the hospital or even nursing home. In “Therapeutic Communication”, Anna Lauria opens saying, “What we say or do not say can influence whether a client is able to quiet his mind, relax his body and initiate a healing response” (Lauria). Being a nurse, we automatically have the opportunity to create a strong influence on patients’ lives during, and even after, their hospital experience.

Self Awareness is the ability to know your own emotions and recognize their influence while using guts feeling to guide decisions. It includes acknowledgement of our personality, our strong opinion and weaknesses, our likes and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to identify when we are stressed out or under pressure. It is also often a must for real communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy for others. Self