The Importance Of Trust In Nursing

To allow anything to develop in a relationship, both parties must allow the variable to grow and prosper. To develop a variable such as trust, one must possess a number of personal and professional qualities. When a person trusts another person it means opening up for an action and expecting the other (trustor) to act in accordance with his/her (trustee’s) wishes, interests or will (Rortveit K. et al. 2015). The power issue between patients and nurses can cause some patients not to avail of health care services (Rortveit K. et al. 2015). Trust is an important aspect of nursing and has been the focus of nursing theory and research (Rortveit K. et al. 2015).

Trust is seen to be essential between the healthcare professional and the patients (Rortveit

The trustors qualities, skills and behaviour with gestures and body language indicating caring, attention, warmth and patience are key to develop a trusting relationship (Rortveit K. et al. 2015). Trust was associated with nurses taking time, sitting down and answering questions, showing interest and expressing concern as well as sharing experiences and emotions (Rortveit K. et al. 2015). Nurses who demonstrated a commitment to person-centred care were seen as trustworthy professionals (Thorpe G. et al. 2014). Trust may be associated with communication, such as nurses informing about the risk, maintain confidentiality and relating to patients as adults, acting as advisor or patient advocate, being engaged and providing assistance (Rortveit K. et al. 2015). Rortveit K. et al. (2015) states adopting a listening attitude and demonstrating that one is trying to understand is must for a nurse to develop a trusting

Nurses personal qualities are seen as important aspects in developing trust. Such aspects would include honesty, confidentiality, sensitivity, understanding, and awareness of patients unvoiced needs (Dinc and Gastmans 2013). The personal life and background could affect a nurse’s state of mind and potentially influence their ability to effectively communicate (Dinc and Gastmans 2013). In context of survivors of intimate partner violence, various facilitators of trust were described such as the nurse’s openness and willingness to talk; interest, professional, competency, concern, confidentiality, shared control, caring, non-verbal, non-judgemental empowerment and persistence in addition to emotional equality as well as a willingness and ability to engage at a personal level (Rortveit K. et al. 2015). In persons with schizophrenia, meeting pragmatic needs and listening to the patient fostered trust (Rortveit K. et al.