Interpersonal Trust and Empathy in Nurse-Nurse Relationships

Emotional contagion, empathic concern and communicative responsiveness as variables affecting nurses’ stress and occupational commitment

“…Empathy is a process whereby an individual attempts to think and feel like another individual (Northouse 1979 p. 366). The critical care nurse who practices empathy places him or herself in the patient’s shoes and experiences that patient’s situation from the patient’s point of view rather than his or her own.…”

Patient perceptions of nursing care: an emerging theory of interpersonal competence

“…Beised on research findmgs which delmeate interpersonal skills patients descnbe as important, a theory of mterpersonal compietence in nursmg is emeigmg Many characteristics descnbed by pahents m this research study are supported m the hterature, yet no model has been proposed to mclude these skills Several non-nursing theonsts have talked about mterpersonal competency in abstract terms 'without ldentifymg specific skills For instance, Kasch (ig84a, 1984bKasch (ig84a, , 1986 descnbed interpersonal competency as a means by which both caregivers and patients interact 'With and adapt to the demands of the environment White (1973) su^ests that mterpersonal competency means the abilify to have some desired effect on people Foote & Cottrell (1955) defined mterpersonal competence sis the ability to meet and deal 'With a changing world, to formulate ends and implement them, to utilize past expenence and future aspiration m an effective organization of present effort, and to mtegrate one's goals 'with those of others Although these theonsts pro'vide valuable insights mto mterpersonal competency, none address specific skills that nurses can use m their mteractions with patients Other theonsts have identified some aspects of the emergent theory, but not all Rogers (1973) has suggested a helpmg relationship to mclude empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruency Bochner & Kelly (1974) identified five observable skills m mterpersonally competent mdividuals (a) empathetic commumcation, (b) abilify to process feedback, (c) owmng one's feelmgs and thoughts, (d) self-disclosure, and (e) behavioural fiexibihty Northouse (1979) discusses trust as a component of mterpersonal coimnunication Others have suggested unconditional acceptance as a component of mterpersonal competence (Rogers 1973, Athos & Gabarro 1978, Rempusheski et al 1988 Although the above theonsts provide support for tlie emergmit theory m that similar concepts were identified, they lack a framewcu-k which mcludes all the components Morse et al (1992), nursing theonsts, descnbe a commumcation model which depicts four levels of engagement and response by nurses m the nurse-patient mteraction Although the research findings descnbe specific beha'viours and surest these beha'viours are undervalued m nursmg, the model does not address specific behaviours a nurse may engage m to develop mterpersonal competency…”

Application of the Reina Trust and Betrayal Model to the Experience of Pediatric Critical Care Clinicians

“…3 No general measurement exists to determine trust between physicians and patients [15][16][17][18][19][20] ; patients, physicians, and insurers; nurses and patients [21][22][23] ; parents and nurses 24 ; nurses 12 ; and nurses and the children they care for. 25 Although extensive research has been done on measurement of patients' satisfaction, little empirical research has been done on the correlates of patient-physician or nurse trust.…”