Therapeutic nurse-client relationships are the interaction between a nurse and a client that aims to enhance the well-being of a patient, and is primary means of achieving treatment goals. The therapeutic nurse-client relationship is considered to be one of the “arts of nursing” …show more content…
Recognizing your patient as a human being rather than just another patient is important and requires selflessness, which is a key characteristic in a nurse. The therapeutic-nurse client relationship can be considered part of Swanson’s five processes of caring which are knowing, being with, doing for, enabling, and maintaining belief (Yateman, 2014). Yu (2014) stated that by making nursing care more patient-centered rather then as a branch of biological sciences, the patients may not only feel cured but will also have the feelings of being cared for. The feeling of being cared for allows the patient to have a more positive outlook and makes the healing process easier. A qualitative study by O’Connell and Landers (2008) was performed in relation to the importance of critical care nurses’ caring behavior that concluded that caring originated in nurses’ feelings of empathy and sensitivity, and determined that humanism/faith and hope/sensitivity are the most important caring behaviors among nurses. Determining the most and least important caring behaviors by nurses and relatives in the study generates an …show more content…
Altruism is a combination of internal and external factors, which either allows or represses individuals to take responsibility for or care for another and to sacrifice things dearly held (Gormley, 1996). An altruistic nurse is one that makes decisions that are based on what is best for the patient; they are compassionate, generous, and caring and demonstrate this by being the patient’s advocate (Gormley, 1996). The nurse promotes altruism by ensuring the patient is safe, understands their treatment plans, and ensures that the patient receives the best care. Altruism in nursing does not just account for the registered nurses but for the student nurses as well. A nursing student can portray altruism simply by being supportive and being considerate of their fellow