Mutual relating: developing interpersonal relationships in the community

Abstract

The results of the study have implications for the way nurses develop and maintain interpersonal relationships with consumers, and this is affected by nurses' personal and professional attributes.

The Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program: The Benefits from a Client Perspective

“…Most participants described going out for a coffee with the MHN, and this appeared to give the relationship a friendlier and less clinical feel that they valued highly. This notion of friendship is increasingly being considered important to the work of mental health personnel (Carlsson, Dahlberg, Ekebergh, & Dahlberg, 2006;McCann & Baker, 2001;Swinton, 2000) Carlsson et al (2006) assert that "contrary to what sometimes is meant by professional caring, we argue that true professional caring means to be personal, to be someone who is more than a carer in the encounter with a patient" (p. 300). Barker, Jackson, and Stevenson (1999) elaborate on this concept through the identification of three discrete domains that theorise the way MHNs relate to people in care.…”

Student‐teachers’ supervision as a professional development activity: building work‐related skills

“…Being friendly may also be another necessary relational skill for cooperating teachers who are concerned with the care of student-teachers. McCann and Baker (2001) interpret 'being friendly' as treating colleagues and students as people. They are not to be dealt with in a detached manner but should be related to at their own level and not spoken to in a condescending manner.…”

“…Additionally, this kind of relationship also requires the skill of tuning-in and becoming a listener who promotes open dialogue when the student-teacher needs to share what they are experiencing and provides positive reinforcements when necessary (Blank and Sindelar 1992). McCann and Baker (2001) suggest that 'tuning-in' involves adopting a flexible and open approach to relating, including the ability to listen effectively -which means carefully listening to what is said. Developing as a caring cooperating teacher may also require other relational skills such as empathy, which refers to perceiving what another person might be feeling, or experiencing another's emotions from the point of view of that person.…”

“…This is what Feldman (1997, p. 279) refers to as the 'understanding of what another individual feels'. McCann and Baker (2001), in defining the term, took it further by suggesting that to empathise is to understand your client. This means giving them time, listening to them so as to be able to hear their perspective.…”

Accessing Health Care Professionals About Antipsychotic Medication Related Concerns

“…An important part of service user satisfaction is to be respected, listened to, and allowed to participate in decisions affecting care and treatment (Allen et al, 2003). Integral to this is the development of good relationships (concordance) among service users and health care professionals (Gray, Wykes, & Gournay, 2002;Heinssen, Liberman, & Kopelowicz, 2000), and embedded in this type of relationship is service users' trust and satisfaction with health care professionals (Baker et al, 2003;Mainous et al, 2001;McCann & Baker, 2001). Deegan and Drake (2006) claim that shared decision making is at the core of this relationship, a relationship premised on two sets of expert knowledge-the service user's and the clinician's-and they contrast this with the clinician-centred approach of compliance.…”