PHASES OF NURSE-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP:
Kapoor, Bimla (1994) has listed four phases of nurse patient relationship which are explained below while describing the phases she has discussed the tasks of each phase and the difficulties encountered by the nurse and how to overcome the difficulties.
Pre-interaction Phase
Pre-interaction phase begins when a nurse is assigned to a patient with mental disorder till the time she goes to the patient first time. The period is known as pre-interactions phase. During this phase the nurse may avoid going to the patient because of herhis anxiety. She may pace in the duty room or do the other work and avoid going to the patient. Or she may plan how she is going to interact with the patient and provide care after going through the case sheet/ patients records.
Tasks of Pre-interaction Phase
There are various tasks which a nurse performs during pre-interaction phase. These tasks are explained in the following textual matter. The nurse explores her fears and anxiety by finding out why she is not able to go to the patient. Could one of the reasons be that she is scared to go to the patient alone? If so, she can talk to one of the experienced nurses or teachers to help her out with this difficulty. This, however cannot continue for very long.