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Therapeutic Relationship in Nursing

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Every day nurses interact with numerous people; the most important of these are their patients. For this interaction to be meaningful and have a positive impact on the health outcomes of the patient, the nurse needs to build interpersonal connections with the patient to form a therapeutic relationship. The nurse also needs to be aware of the patient’s culture and practice in a culturally safe way when establishing this relationship. In this essay the main characteristics of both interpersonal connectedness and the therapeutic relationship will be described using relevant literature. It will then go on to describe culture and cultural differences and then finally discuss how the cultural difference of the patient speaking a different …show more content…

Unconditional positive regard is formed when both warmth and respect are practiced together (Balzer Riley, 2008).
Finally assertiveness is explained as “the ability to express your thoughts, your ideas, and your feelings without undue anxiety and without expense to others” (Balzer Riley, 2008, p. 5). For nurses this assertiveness can either be advocating for their patient or communicating with their patient (Stein-Parbury, 2009). When the nurse possesses all five of these characteristics, the necessary interpersonal environment is formed to help facilitate the development of the therapeutic relationship (Stein-Parbury, 2009).
The therapeutic relationship enables the nurse to express their compassion and knowledge of the patient’s individual experiences to humanise the healthcare experience. In the majority of nursing situations, this is the type of relationship formed between the nurse and patient (Stein-Parbury, 2009). The main characteristics of the therapeutic relationship are that they are a professional relationship instead of being social, have professional boundaries in addition to differing in the level of involvement for each relationship (Stein-Parbury, 2009).
By the therapeutic relationship being professional, it is focused on the patient’s needs over the nurse’s. For the nurse to keep the relationship patient-focused, they need to keep in mind the patient’s needs and values and integrate

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