Question

The Nurse-Client Relationship

In this discussion, we'll talk about the nurse-client relationship and the use of therapeutic communication as an important part of that relationship. Please answer the following questions:

What are your concerns or fears about mental health nursing in general? Are you interested in mental health nursing, or do you approach the topic with some anxiety?

What do you feel are essential aspects of a good nurse-client relationship?

Please include an example of how you established good rapport and a good professional relationship with a patient in the work or clinical setting. What nonverbal and verbal techniques did you use in this relationship?

Answer 1

1. ANS: The American Psychiatric Nurses Association defines the job of a mental health nurse as being a promoter of wellness and health through identification of an individual’s mental health matter, a preventer of further mental health issues and caregivers and treatment providers for an individual with psychiatric disorders. Concerns I have in regards to working with the mental health population are vast. With the amount of scrutiny that has been presented in recent years about what causes certain mental illnesses and how they are to be treated, it seems as if the subject matter is still a work in progress. Treatments are being conduct on a trial and error basis, in hopes to find what works for which patient. Many individuals are left over medicated and diagnosed based on side effects that a medication may cause versus the actual behaviors of an individual’s prior to medication. Because the subject lacks in matter-of-fact diagnoses I couldn’t help but wonder, as a nurse, if the treatment I am providing is preventing further mental health problems or hindering the individual’s health and wellness.

2. ANS: Essential aspects of a good nurse-client relationship:

Focusing on mental health specifically, it is my belief that the greatest contributor in providing a good nurse-client relationship would include both verbal and nonverbal communication, understanding the normalcy of the client and most importantly trust. In those unable to verbalize appropriately it is imperative that we understand the behaviors of that individual and know how to respond to those behaviors appropriately. The way you interact with these individuals ultimately builds the framework for a great relationship.

3. ANS: An example:

I had the pleasure of working in a group home for young adults from the ages of 18-24 years of age. The diagnoses ranged from a 21 year old gentleman that suffered from abusive head trauma or shaken baby syndrome at the age of 2 to an 18 year old female with schizophrenia and manic depression. Both of these individuals went through episodes of isolation regularly, to encourage socialization I would often sit with them and tell them jokes, often they would just sit, listen, and chuckle. Before you knew it they were sharing those same jokes with others in the house. I would be asked on my next shift back, “how did that joke go again?” It was a way for me to interact with my clients and it helped bring them back to normalcy.