Peplau's Theory Of Interpersonal Communication

Introduction

Nursing is provision of professional care to individuals, families, and communities in order to make them attain, maintain or recover optimal health and resume the good quality of life. Other than the receiving professional training and possessing well-trained therapeutic skills, nurses should also have good ability of interpersonal communication, because during the process of therapy, large amount of communications are involved in it. Nurses and patients will experience an inter exchange of information between each other so as to reach their mutual goals.
Hildegard E. Peplau raised the theory of interpersonal relations, the theory explains the phases of interpersonal process and nurses’ roles in different phases, encouraging

Current nursing setting and how the theory can guide

I am working in oncology ward and often meet the patients with nasopharyngeal cancer and admit for Ryles tube insertion because they were difficult to swallow food. I need to give support and educate the patient about the technical of Ryles tube feeding. I find out each stage of the nursing care needs strong and adequate communication in order to make thing go on. Using Peplau’s theory can help these patients achieve a better outcome during hospitalization.
Peplau’s theory include three phase: orientation phase, working phase and termination phase.
The first phase is the “orientation phase”, it is initiated when patient go for professional assistance, I introduce myself because before that we are strangers to each other and analyze patient’s situation,explain the reasons of learn Ryles tube feeding technique and know more about how the patient feel and also some basic information the patient, giving the leaflet is one of example. Patient comes with anxiety, through the communication process, nurse should help patient to identify what the problem is and comfort patient mentally, have you heard about attitude determined everything? Only when patient adjust

Using the general interpersonal skill can perfectly identify patients’ needs and understanding the unmet needs of patients so that the effect of therapy could be better. It simply emphasizes the nurse-patient relationship is important in curing the illness. There are still some shortcomings of this theory, Peplau mentioned interpersonal skill and applied it into patient and nurse’s relationship. I think it could partly apply into nurse-patient relationships. We are now having emergency department in hospital, it only takes us half an hour to see doctor, and not much time will be taken in the communication part. Doctor only needs to ask some basic questions about the sickness and give us some medicine and then finish the whole process. We can not even regard it as communications. Another limitation should be what if those patients who are not capable of communication, how they communicate with each other. Finally, it is about the external factors including environment, the patients’ living culture, which will also influence the patient’s physical situation. So if nurse want to apply interpersonal communication into curing process, patient’s characteristics and living environment should be