Human to Human Relationship Theory

Biography of the Theorist Joyce Travelbee was a psychiatric nurse, educator and writer, she was born in 1926. She finished her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing education atLouisianaStateUniversityin 1956 and her Master of Science Degree in Nursing fromYaleUniversityin 1959. She finalise a doctoral program inFloridain 1973. She did not finish the program because she died later on that same year. She passed away at the age of 47 after a brief sickness. She started to be mentor focusing in Psychiatric Nursing at DepaulHospitalAffiliateSchool, New Orleans, while she is working with her baccalaureate degree in 1952. Aside from that she also taught Psychiatric Nursing at Charity Hospital School of Nursing in Louisiana State University, New YorkUniversity and Universityof Mississippi. She was named Project Director at Hotel Dieu School of Nursing in New Orleansin 1970. She became the director of Graduate Education at Louisiana State University School of Nursing until her death. She started to publish various articles in nursing journals in 1963. In 1966 and 1971, she publishes her first book entitled InterpersonalAspects of Nursing and in 1969 she publishes her second book entitled Intervention in Psychiatric Nursing: Process in the One-to-One Relationship. Summary of the Theory Joyce travelbee stated in her theory that a nurse does not only seek to relieve physical pain or deliver physical care but also ministers the whole person. She also believed that nursing accomplished through Human-to-Human relationships that started with the original encounter and then progress through stages of emerging identities, developing feelings of empathy, and later feelings of sympathy. The nurse and patient acquire a rapport in the final stage. For meeting the goals of nursing it is a prerequisite to achieve genuine human-to-human relationships. This kind of relationship can only be established by an interaction process. This interaction process has five phases; first is the inaugural meeting or original encounter, visibility of personal identities/emerging identities, empathy, sympathy and establishing mutual understanding and contact/ rapport. She also discusses the five interaction phases, where she described original encounter as the first impression by the nurse of the sick person and vise-versa, emerging identities when the nurse and patient distinguish each others uniqueness, empathy is the ability to share in the persons experience, sympathy is when the nurse wants to lessen the cause of patients suffering, and rapport is described as nursing interventions that lessens the patients suffering. She also discusses nursing metaparadigm. She defined person as human being with unique capabilities, incapable of being replaced who is in regular process of becoming, development and changing. She defined health as subjective and objective. She did not clearly define what environment is. But she defines human condition and life experiences cross the path by all men as sufferings, hope, pain and illness. She defines nursing as interpersonal process whereby a professional nurse practitioner helps a person, family or community to obstruct with experience or illness and suffering and if necessary to find meaning in these experiences. Her theory ask nurses to take good care of their patient who needs help to not only in physical pain but also in mental and spiritual pains. Her ideas have greatly influenced the hospice movement in the west. Appreciation Nursing is my greatest dream, ever since when I was a child I really want to enter this field and now Im in my college days I took up this course. Now, I really felt that this is it and Im not letting go. My first course or subject as a student nurse was Theoretical Foundation in Nursing. It is a subject in which there are a lot of theories that was usually discovered by various noble nurses. This course also helps me to become a professional nurse someday. Among all the theories Ive learned in this course the one that really caught my attention was Joyce Travelbees Human-toHuman relationship theory. In this theory, she proposed that the goal of nursing was to assist their patients to avoid or cope with their experiences of illness and suffering. If necessary they will help their patients find meanings in these experiences and give them hope. She also proposed that in becoming a nurse you must achieve the five intervention phases. These phases are; the original encounter, emerging identities, developing feelings of empathy, later it becomes sympathy, and until it reaches rapport between the nurse and patient. In order for me to attain these said intervention phases, I must first have knowledge on how to face my clients/patients in our first encounter because though this the four remaining phases will follow. If I will attain these five intervention phases successfully I will probably be a very good nurse. Aside from I took good care of my patients physically I also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually support them with all my capabilities and skills. I will always remember this theory of Joyce Travelbees Human-to-Human relationship as I go on in my journey as a student nurse. Through this theory I will serve my patients until their hearts content and provide their needs. I appreciate this theory for it will guide student nurses and even licensed nurses in their respective careers. It will also give benefits to the nurses in a way that they will serve their clients/patients to the fullest. On the other hand, it will also benefit the clients/patients in a way that their needs in terms of caring will be provided. This theory will really help the future nurses when they are all professionals in the near future.