Chapter 5 Therapeutic Relationships
Chapter 5 Therapeutic Relationships
Chapter 5 Therapeutic Relationships
Key Terms:
o Acceptance: avoiding judgments of the person, no matter what the behavior
o Advocacy: the process of acting on the clients behalf when he or she cannot do so
o Attitudes: general feelings or a frame of reference around which a person organizes knowledge about the
world
o Beliefs: ideas that one holds to be true
o Compassion Fatigue: a type of secondary trauma or stress resulting from helping others works through
traumatic stress; experienced by those in the helping professions
o Confidentiality: respecting the clients right to keep private any information about his or her mental and
physical health and related care
o Congruence: occurs when words and actions match
o Countertransference: occurs when the therapist displaces onto the client attitudes or feelings from his or
her past; process that can occur when the nurse responds to the client based on personal, unconscious
needs and conflicts
o Duty to Warn: the exception to the clients right to confidentiality; when health-care providers are legally
obligated to warn another person, who is the target of the threats or plan by the client, even if the threats
were discussed during therapy sessions otherwise protected by confidentiality
o Empathy: the ability to perceive the meanings and feelings of another person and to communicate that
understanding to that person
o Exploitation: phase of nurse-client relationship, identified by Peplau, when the nurse guides the client to
examine feelings and responses and to a residence where they fulfill their own responsibilities and
function without on-site supervision from paid staff
o Genuine Interest: truly paying attention to the client, caring about what he or she is saying; only possible
when the nurse is comfortable with himself or herself and aware of his or her strengths and limitations
o Intimate Relationship: a relationship involving two people who are emotionally committed to each other;
both parties are concerned about having their individual needs me and helping each other to meet needs as
well; the relationship may include sexual or emotional intimacy as well as sharing of mutual goals
o Orientation Phase: the beginning of the nurse-client relationship; begins when the nurse and client meet
and ends when the client begins to identify problems to examine
o Patterns of Knowing: the four patterns of knowing in nursing are empirical knowing (derived from the
science of nursing), personal knowing (derived from life experiences), ethical knowing (derived from
moral knowledge of nursing), and aesthetic knowing (derived from the art of nursing); these patterns
provide the nurse with a clear method of observing and understanding every client interaction
o Positive Regard: unconditional, nonjudgmental attitude that implies respect for the person
o Preconceptions: the way one person expects another to behave or speak; often roadblock to the formation
of an authentic relationship
o Problem Identification: part of the working phase of the nurse-client situation, when the client identifies
the issues or concerns causing problems
o Self-Awareness: the process by which a person gains recognition of his or her own feelings, beliefs, and
attitudes; the process of developing an understanding of ones own values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings,
attitudes, motivations, prejudices, strengths, and limitations and how these qualities affect others
o Self-Disclosure: revealing personal information such as biographical information and personal
experiences, ideas, thoughts, and feelings about oneself
o Social Relationship: primarily initiated for the purpose of friendship, socialization, companionship, or
accomplishment of a task
o Termination or Resolution Phase: the final stage in the nurse-client relationship; it begins when the
clients problems are resolved and concludes when the relationship ends
o Therapeutic Relationship (Therapeutic Nurse-Client Relationship): professional, planned relationship
between client and nurse that focuses on client needs, feelings, problems, and ideas; interaction designed
to promote client growth, discuss issues, and resolve problems; includes the three phases of orientation: