THE EFFECT OF NURSE PRACTITIONER SELF-DISCLOSURE ON THE SELF-DISCLOSING BEHAVIOR OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN A COLLEGE HEALTH SETTING.
Contributors: University of Rochester.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 302
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: A major premise of this research is that patient self-disclosure of psychosocial information is essential for the successful completion of the nursing process. Therapist self-disclosure has become firmly established in the psychological literature as a facilitating technique for patient self-disclosure. Until very recently, nurses and other health care professionals have been educated to avoid self-disclosure with their patients.

This research was a set of three studies. The first study was a pre-experimental study designed to describe the naturally occurring self-disclosing behavior of three nurse practitioners with their patients, followed by a structured interview to determine the self-reported self-disclosing behavior of these nurse practitioners. Next, a post-test only experiment and replication were completed primarily to test the hypothesis that nurse practitioner self-disclosure of a medium level of intimacy would increase the psychosocial self-disclosing behavior of college students in an outpatient college health setting. In each of the two experiments, 20 subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group (blocking on sex). The experimental group received a nurse practitioner self-disclosure of a medium level of intimacy; the control group received no nurse practitioner self-disclosure. One nurse practitioner completed both conditions in each study. The interviews were audio-taped.

The pre-experimental study (N = 15) revealed one occurrence of nurse practitioner self-disclosure. The nurse practitioners self-reported self-disclosing to their patients, but each reported the opinion that clinician self-disclosure is considered unprofessional behavior.

Both experiments demonstrated an increase in patient psychosocial self-disclosure in the experimental groups when compared to the control groups. Study 2 demonstrated a difference of 8.3% in patient psychosocial self-disclosure whereas Study 3 demonstrated a difference of 20.6%. Overall, male and female disclosure rates were equivalent. However, results suggest that females responded to both psychosocial and biological disclosures by the nurse practitioner, whereas males had a greater response to nurse practitioner psychosocial self-disclosures than to biological self-disclosures.

Further research is needed to test the effect of clinician self-disclosure on patient perceived social distance, perceived empathy, and patient satisfaction. The specific characteristics of therapeutic clinician self-disclosures need further examination and description.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: B, page: 3113.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, 1988.

School code: 0188.