Importance of Nurse Patient Relationship

Watson defined therapeutic nurse-patient relationship as “a helping relationship that’s based on mutual trust and respect, the nurturing of faith and hope, being sensitive to self and others, and assisting with the gratification of your patient’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs through your knowledge and skill” ( as quoted in Pullen, 2010, p.4). Nurse’s are expected to portray and act professionally, legally and ethically in order to established an effective nurse-client relationship. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA, 2012) is a regulating body for nurses and midwives specifically in Australia had set and approved codes and guidelines to follow and source of basis to guide nurses in their professional practice. The significance of an effective nurse patients relationships are critical to maintenance, promotion and recovery of patients in every aspect of life. It is central to meeting the patients care needs and therefore communication between the nurse and patients is the foundation on which this relationship is built ( McCabe, Timmins, & Camplings, 2007). The techniques to established a warm and mutual nurse-client relationship are vital to understand and needless to say important in practice in order to come up with healthy and quality outcome for the patient as well as the nurse. The barriers or hindrances that we may encountered in maintaining a positive and favorable relationships between nurse and client is experienced in our everyday situation as we interact with the patient in various settings. As a professional nurse we must determine this barriers to promote a comprehensive, holistic and healthy relationship to our patient.

Significance and advantages of maintaining a professional boundaries and following the guidelines and codes of ethics in creating an effective nurse client relationship is critical in any practice setting. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, Royal College of Nursing, Australia and