GROUNDED THEORY OF NURSE PATIENT INTERACTIONS.
Contributors: University of Virginia.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 154
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The research question for this study of nurse-patient interactions was: How do nurses and patients interact to negotiate a working relationship with each other? Purposes of this grounded theory study were to determine if nurses and patients have similar perceptions of nurses' and patients' roles and of patients' needs and concerns, and to determine how nurses and patients identify interactions as satisfactory. Twenty adult surgical patients and four nurses who worked on a surgical unit participated in the study. Data were obtained from interviews of the participants and then analyzed using the constant comparative approach. Analysis of the data resulted in the development of a theory of nurses and patients working with each other. Two concepts, role and personal relationships, emerged from the data. The combined effects of role and personal relationships influence the working relationships that develop between nurses and patients. Several categories describe the concepts. Categories of role relationships are direction and information exchange. The category that describes personal relationships is rapport. The findings of this study provide descriptive information about nurses' and patients' interactions that influence their ability to develop working relationships that are mutually satisfying. Results from this study should be useful for developing systems of organization and assignment of patient care on intermediate care units in hospital settings. In addition, the results of this study may be useful for designing patient care systems that will facilitate nurses' and patients' satisfaction with the care that is provided. Finally, the results of this study could be useful for designing staff development programs to emphasize the importance of nurse-patient interactions in the delivery of effective nursing care.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-02, Section: B, page: 0749.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, 1992.

School code: 0246.