1. Showing an interest in a patient and what they do when they
are not in the hospital could help develop trust in the nurse-client relationship. I have found from personal experience that when nurses show an interest in who I am and what I do we get along much better and trust each other more. I have a Ph.D. in science and have worked in medical research all my life, and when nurses understand this, they pay more attention to me and trust my judgment on things. Having respect for a patient is also very important in establishing a trusting relationship. When a nurse respects who I am and what I do, I find we have a more trusting relationship. When nurses respect my medical judgments because of my background in medical science, then I can establish more of a trusting relationship with them.
Really listening to what a patient says, and giving them credit for knowing what they are talking about is important in developing trust. Brushing what a patient says aside as if it is not important does not help develop trust because perhaps at some point the nurse will dismiss something the patient is saying that will be important and have an impact on their care. If a patient feels their nurse is not paying attention to what they are saying, they will not be forthcoming with information which might be vital to their proper care. Talking to a patient as an equal, and not talking down to them is important in developing trust in a relationship. There are ways to approach a patient and find out how much they know about something before proceeding with an elaborate description which may not be necessary. It helps to get an idea of how much the patient knows about their medical problems before approaching them with information regarding their care.
2. Williams conducted a study of 94 hospitalized medical patients at two rural hospitals in the southeastern United States to determine patients' feelings and satisfaction with holist...