The Expert Nurse and Inter-Personal Relations

Abstract

Care-based nursing practice is a field of experience where cognitive behavioral aspects and integrated skills are applied to individual care. The objective of this article is to the develop elements of knowledge and skill that are a crucial part of a nurse's experience, specifically those that favor inter-personal relations. In an experienced nurse, her personal maturity, job context and continuous learning are demonstrated in care that is of benefit to the nurse herself and to the patient.

Therefore, if a nurse is to provide care, she must have the knowledge that allows her to be recognized as a health care professional. Hopefully, the ultimate result of that knowledge will be demonstrated through kind and compassionate contact with the patient and, in practical situations, through nurse-patient interaction.

Care that demands an inter-personal relationship requires skills that are gained through experience as a care-giver over the course of time, so as to have an impact and to establish a person-to-person relationship. In short, experience gives the nurse a personal perception of competence that fosters the skill, self-confidence, ability in inter-personal relations and in communication to attract the patient's attention and interest and to generate a change in his or her behavior.