Importance of Therapeutic Relationship in Nursing
Question
Task: Write a reflective report describing 3 incidences of therapeutic relationship in nursing and how it helped your career.
Answer
Case 1: This specific event is the scenario that demonstrates how I succeeded in establishing a curing and a therapeutic relationship in nursing with one of my patients. The patient could not speak since a stroke that she had experienced several years ago. During my fourth semester, I had been in the psychiatric ward with a 3-week hospital assignment in mental healthcare. Patients in the hospital were allowed to move out of the ward during the mealtime to a nearby cafeteria. I found at lunch time that a patient who was 77-year-old at the time and was diagnosed with schizophrenia sits on the bed and does not go out of her ward. She had constant spasms and in her legs and could not control her movements. Such spasms are generally a side effect of the anti-psychotic medication that was administered to her. She had been unable to comprehend this because of her mental condition and became irritated. I introduced myself at first and greeted her in order to establish a therapeutic relationship in nursing her. I told her if she’d like to have lunch or not. She could not move without any assistance because of these spasms and was not able to eat by herself. I searched for her nutrition chart and brought her lunch from the cafeteria to her room. I came to know from her chart that she was on a softer diet because she’s having trouble swallowing. I took her approval to feed her thereafter, but she stared at me as if she couldn’t understand. I envisioned myself in her state out of sympathy and thought that she might be having impaired hearing because of her age. I rubbed her hand and lifted my voice while making expressions to feed her She acknowledged and nodded to my actions saying yes..Importance of Therapeutic Relationship in Nursing Fortunately, non-verbal interaction in the form of expressions and movements helped me communicate my thoughts to her. When feeding her, I made eye contact with her to demonstrate that I was concerned about her. She ate the food comfortably and loved the meal. I made the correct choice in my assessment to meet the patient and feed her. I utilized my communication abilities to create a relationship of mutual trust and confidence. When a nurse and a patient have a level of trust, it develops a bond that increases self-esteem for the patient. It makes the patient connect well with the caregiver and it was achieved through gestures and behaviour in this situation. Being compassionate, sensitive, and having sensitivity is critical for a nurse. It also involved postures, movements, and facial expressions because our interaction was not verbal. Because she was not able to move and support herself, I visited the patient to express my concern for her. It was my responsibility to look after her. The role of a nurse must not thus be confined to chore-cantered interaction, but effective patient-cantered contact should also be included.
