Nursing Presence And Therapeutic Communication

Nursing is a wonderful, yet, intense field. A nurse is blessed with the ability to care for patients physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Nurses care for their patient as a whole; not just simply treating their condition. They assist their patient with their treatment, listen to their concerns/stories, comfort them in their most difficult time of their life, and act as a shoulder to cry on. Nurses ensure that the patient receive the best care; as all patient’s deserve the best possible treatment. Nursing isn’t just a career; it’s a passion for assisting others in need. That being said; nursing can be a stressful, intense, and an emotional career. In some units, nurses become burnt out, resulting, in the patient not receiving the best care.

This nurse is unfortunately failing to listen, comfort; physically, emotionally, and spiritually be there for their patients. This is a perfect example of a nurse that is failing to be present with their patient. The stress this nurse is under, is resulting, in the lack of therapeutic communication amongst the nurse and their patients. Throughout this paper nursing presence and therapeutic communication will be thoroughly reviewed. Experiences from nursing education, experiences from therapeutic communication observation, as well as, scholarly articles will be used to delve deeply into these two complex topics; of nursing presence and therapeutic communication. There are four techniques that are pertinent to assisting one to be present in the nursing field. Those four techniques are the 5 R’s of spirituality, therapeutic touch, guided imagery, and therapeutic communication. Therapeutic communication is going to be highly focused on throughout this research paper; as it’s a relevant tool that a nurse must use. Therapeutic communication is a concept, which falls under

A nurse is present with their patient if they’re active listening and acknowledging the patient’s concerns. This is demonstrated, by the use of opened/closed ended questions about the patient’s concerns, the use of appropriate body language, and non-verbal cues. Some other forms of therapeutic communication that may result in the nurse being present is the act of “narrative interactions, the sharing of personal stories, will be offered as therapeutic form of communication” (Canales pg 479). The information allows the patient and nurse to learn things such as; the individuals culture, personal preferences, as well as personal difficulties that this patient has overcame; leading to building trust. On the flip side, if the nurse isn’t present; the nurse may be looking at their task list when having a conversation with their patient; making the patient feel like the nurse doesn’t care or want to help them. In other words, the patient may feel rejected or isolated by the nurse. Something, no human being wants to feel. In this situation, the nurse should avoid looking at her task list and ensure she is active listening to the patient; therefore, allowing themselves to engage in therapeutic communication with the patient. If the nurse, is concerned, with what the patient is saying and doesn’t want them to forget what the patient is saying; the nurse can