Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations

Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations

Undoubtedly, nursing theories provide the main beliefs that reinforce nursing practice and help not only to enhance and inform nursing practices but also to generate further nursing knowledge. They are beneficial structures that can be used to draw direction and encouragement which are crucial in delivering care and in healing. The theories provide a conceptual base when it comes to nursing practice. They use a logical sense of concepts, assumptions as well as hypotheses that are vital in addressing various issues during the delivery of care. These theoretical frameworks can act as a backbone for patient care, nursing practice, professional development, administrative decision making, nursing research as well as education (Franzoi et al., 2016). Besides, nursing theory gives nurses a sense of identity which enables managers, patients and other healthcare practitioners to recognize the exceptional work nurses deliver to improve the healthcare service. Nonetheless, a lack of consensus in the professional literature about the theories of nursing had caused a lot of confusion which has made nurses to view nursing theories as not relevant to practice. This paper discusses how Hildegard Peplau's Theory of Interpersonal Relations can be employed to solve communication problems existing in a nursing academic setting.

Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations is based on Psychodynamic nursing, a notion by which nurses strive to comprehend their behavior in addition to that of others so that they can apply human relation principles to solve problems that arise while delivering care (Adams, 2017). The link existing between a teacher and a student nurse progresses through four stages according to this theory. The first phase being orientation, second is identification, the third being exploitation and lastly the termination stage. In the first stage, the nurse dictates everything and comprise providing explanations, engaging the client in treatment and answering questions. Identification, being the second stage begins when the client, whether student or a patient, express feelings, work interdependently, and start to feel stronger. The exploitation stage is where the client maximizes the services provided to benefit more. There is no need of professional services in the resolution phase as the client does rely on dependent services. This is the phase where the relationship ends. The nurse, in this theory, adopts numerous roles to ensure a healthy relationship. He/she can be a teacher who informs and educate students to gain knowledge on the delivery of care, a stranger who identifies the needs of the patient and assist, a leader who takes the patient through active participation and cooperation in an attempt to fulfill his/her demands (Adams, 2017). The theory delineates nursing as an educative instrument and a maturing force comprising an interaction and communication between more than two persons with a common objective.  

Description of the Issue

As the world evolves, so as diseases and nursing students should be in a position to communicate effortlessly with patients, doctors, and other healthcare practitioners to manage severe and chronic conditions. Similarly, the same communications are used by nursing students who train to be educators as well as those who desire to be attached to hospitals. Despite all the efforts that have been put to teach holistic communication to student nurses, most of them have been found to be ineffective after completing their education. This is contrary to what is expected as nurses are required to gain their knowledge, including effective communication skills in their basic education system. There is a lot which has been written about this issue. According to a 2013 research on 249 nursing students conducted by Öztürka, Çilingirb, and Şenelc, this issue was found to be a real problem. 76 percent of students lacked effective communication skills that plays a crucial role when interrelating with patients (Öztürk, Çilingir & Şenel, 2013). Medical nursing course suffered more from this problem (53%), while those doing research at health ministries had 46%. Apart from that, communication was not a problem only in the academic setting of nursing students; it was also found to go a long way to affect nurses in hospitals. The same research revealed that 68% of nurses attached to general units experienced communication problems (Öztürk, Çilingir & Şenel, 2013). The issue, according to study affected more female nurse students than males. Several other sources pinpointed the rising occurrence of the problem.

This is a serious issue and nursing profession should care. A healthy relationship between patient and a nurse, which comprise good communication, is not only essential for healing but also crucial for a positive outcome to be realized when it comes to the individualized nursing care of patients. With the help of good communication skills, nurses can understand their patients and show kindness, courtesy, and sincerity. Besides, nurses should dedicate time to communicate with patients with the required confidentiality and in a manner that makes him/her be understood. Similarly, effective communication is essential as it affects patients. It enables them to have confidence in the nurse, and this encourages them to convey their fears with the hope of getting assistance. After this, the nurse transmits the information from the patient and respond with delicacy and discretion according to the disease, and give advice on treatment, health promotion, and rehabilitation plan.  It is only through this that a nurse can be able to solve issues affecting not only patients but also students when it comes to academic settings. This issue affects numerous people starting from patients, doctors, and other healthcare practitioners. If a nurse is ineffective in communicating, it means he/she cannot describe the condition of the patient to the doctor. Those who expect to be teachers and are poor communicators will not be able to impart knowledge to their students. The issue affects different groups in one way or another, and its results can be deleterious.

Applying Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations

Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations can act as a vital tool to solve communication problems facing nursing students. The theory can be used to educate nursing students on the importance of self-awareness and interest. These are some of the vital elements that nursing student should have to enable them to communicate effectively. Self-awareness means knowing oneself. Rasheed (2015) pointed out self-awareness as a crucial tool which helps a nurse to cultivate a therapeutic relationship with patients or students by educators. Similarly, self-awareness is essential for growth of an individual; it helps them to improve performance in communication, learning and when delivering care. Furthermore, it allows nurses manage self, set attainable and realistic goals, and manage life stressors that affect them (Rasheed, 2015, p.213). To boost the importance of self-awareness in the nursing profession, Rasheed (2015) go ahead and claim that nurses and nursing students bring not only patients who need care but also their own stress. To solve this stress and be able to deliver care to the patient at the same time, the nurse should possess good communication skills and to do so requires them to acknowledge and understand the importance of a nurse-client relationship.

The theory provides the nursing discipline with a useful set of relating phases which at times overlap when nurses are interacting with patients during the process of nurse-patient relationship (Deane & Fain, 2016). Different stages of the theory can, and have already been utilized to educate nursing students ways they can employ to understand nursing occurrences. Nursing educators can employ the four phases: orientation, identification, exploitation, and termination to educate students on effective and holistic communication to help them when delivering care. All through the three crucial phases, the nurse’s behavior, feelings as well as emotions are put into consideration. The phases are progressive, i.e., the steps develop gradually from one to another. During this progress, the student nurse understanding of holistic and effective communication skills, as well as their views regarding their ability to effectively communicate, could perhaps impact the way they learn (Deane & Fain, 2016).

The orientation phase of the theory is where a nursing student meets with the student as strangers, just as a nurse meets with the patient. It is during this phase that the teacher starts to understand the student and obtain valuable information about him/her while interacting. It is during the step that the professionalism of nurse educators are realized as they begin working by themselves to by first understanding themselves to meet the needs of others (Adams, 2017).  According to Peplau, the work of the nurse, (nurse educator) in this case, allows for a reflective look at their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. She suggests that nurses must be conscious of the way they communicate, including body language and gestures. They should make every effort to go from minimum nonverbal to maximum verbal communication during their interactions with patients which goes hand in hand with principles of holistic care. This theory encourages nurses working in different areas to look beyond patient's insufficiencies and consider what it looks like to be in that situation (Adams, 2017). Nurse educators also can apply the same. They should look into their student's deficit and put themselves in their shoes. Both the student and the teacher grow together from the interaction.