Professional Documents
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relax them enough to keep them calm but at the same time assure
yourself that you are not giving them false hope? Different people deal
with pain and sickness differently. Some patient’s may get depressed,
and some may deal with their situation by being sarcastic and using
humor. These are very important things to consider and you should ask
yourself if you can handle this before you get in the situation and
realize you cannot.
In order to deal with these situations you have to know what type
of relationship you have with your patient’s. In the same book from the
quote above, Communication with Nurses, Lisa Sheldon discusses the
nursing theorists’ Hildegard Peplau’s Theory of Interpersonal Relations.
Peplau says that nurses function with six roles. These are the roles:
“1. Stranger role: The nurse and the patient are introduced to each
other as strangers.
3. Teaching role: The nurse is like a teacher to the patient. The nurse
gives the patient instructions and training.
5. Surrogate role: The nurse is there for the patient. He/She helps the
patient realize their domains of independence, dependence, and
interdependence.
confirm what role you are in with your patient. After a while, you will be
able to tell in a short amount of time.
A few years back I held an interview with Ms. Susan. (mom’s old
friend from work). I asked her a few questions about communication
between patient’s and nurses and she pretty much told me the same
things that I have mentioned. There was one subject that she touched
on though that I did not think to include. You have never had a bad
temper Tenesia, but I do know that at certain times during the day it
does not take much to aggravate you. Ms. Susan informed me that you
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can not let your emotions (of any kind) get involved when caring for a
patient. “You may deal with a patient with Alzheimer's and they will not
realize that you have done nothing wrong and they might curse you
out with no warning. You can not get offended by this and you must
control your anger and handle the patient accordingly. If a patient tries
to hit you, you should not hit back, ever. But you should avoid getting
hit.” She is completely right! It is a natural reflex to hit back if you have
been hit, but at work, especially in the nursing field, you cannot act on
impulses. You will be fired in no time, and you will probably have a
lawsuit on your back as well.
Tenesia, I wish you much luck on finding a job and I know you will
be a great nurse. Remember what you have learned throughout school
and keep in mind what I have told you in this letter. Do not be afraid to
take advice from fellow nurses and other health care workers you may
come into contact with. Keep your mind focused on the job at hand and
you will have no problems. However, you must remember that
everyone makes mistakes (even though yours have to be minor) and
you have to be able to learn from them and learn from your patients. I
will be writing soon to see how the job search turned out!
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Your Friend,
Tenesia Sealey
Works Cited
Dare, Frances. “How Nurses Communicate.” Cisco Blog. Inc. 12 05 2009. Web. 27
March 2011.
Fuzy, Jetta, RN, MS. Hartman’s Nursing Assistant Care: The Basics. 3rd ed.
Sheldon, Lisa. Communication for Nurses: Talking with Patients. 2nd ed.