Major Concepts

Person

Person is defined as a human being.
Both the nurse and the patient are human beings.
A human being is a unique, irreplaceable individual who is in continuous process of becoming, evolving and changing.

Health

Health is subjective and objective.
Subjective health is an individually defined state of well being in accord with self-appraisal of physical-emotional-spiritual status.
Objective health is an absence of discernible disease, disability of defect as measured by physical examination, laboratory tests and assessment by spiritual director or psychological counselor.

http://slsu-coam.blogspot.com/2008/09/joyce-travelbee-human-to-human.html

Environment

Environment is not clearly defined.
She defined human conditions and life experiences encountered by all men as sufferings, hope, pain and illness.

http://slsu-coam.blogspot.com/2008/09/joyce-travelbee-human-to-human.html

Illness – being unhealthy, but rather explored the human experience of illness

Suffering – is a feeling of displeasure which ranges from simple transitory mental, physical or spiritual discomfort to extreme anguish and to those phases beyond anguish—the malignant phase of dispairful “not caring” and apathetic indifference

Pain – is not observable. A unique experience. Pain is a lonely experience that is difficult to communicate fully to another individual.

Hope – the desire to gain an end or accomplish a goal combined with some degree of expectation that what is desired or sought is attainable

Hopelessness – being devoid of hope

Nursing

The Goals of the Nurse

The nurse helps the ill person cope with present problems.

The nurse is concerned with “here-and-now” problems as perceived and defined by the ill person. She is not concerned with uncovering unconscious content or with tracking present problems back through the patient’s earliest formative years. This is not to deny that such information is useful (or interesting)-it does imply that the nurse’s primary aim is to help the patient conceptualize his present problem. Knowledge of the ill person’s past history as obtained from the chart, resource people and others is helpful insofar as what is learned guides the nurse in structuring nursing intervention; however, the nurse does not probe or request this information from the patient. If the patient reveals it, the nurse uses it’s knowledge to help her understand his present problem. It is well to remember that there may be a discrepancy between problems as perceived and defined by the patient and the patient’s problem as perceived and defined by nurses, psychiatrists and etc.

The nurse helps the ill person to conceptualize his problem.

As stated previously, one of the goals in the interactive process is to assist the ill person to identify or conceptualize problems as he perceives them. This is the primary focus of inquiry throughout the series of interactions. Problems identified by patients will and do change as relationship progresses.

The nurse assists the ill person to perceive his participation in an experience.

The nurse strives to assist the patient to see himself as an active participant in life and it’s events. The practitioner strives to assist the patient to gain (or regain) a sense of immediacy- of aliveness- and an appreciation of the uniqueness of his individuality. As the relationship progresses, it becomes easier for the patient to acknowledge that he is an active participant in life experiences and that what he thinks, feels, and does elicits a response from others. The patient begins to realize that he affects the behavior of those about him. The patient also learns that the individuals he encounters will react toward him on the basis of his behavior toward them. This knowledge is gained slowly and over a period of time as the patient begins to develop an appreciation of the cause-and-effect in behavior.

The nurse assists the ill person to face emerging problems realistically.

Problems, as initially conceptualized by the patient, frequently undergo a change. The initial presentation by the patient of a somewhat “superficial” problem gradually changes, and deeper problems begin to emerge as the relationship progresses and the patient is able to perceive his participation in life experiences.

The nurse assists the ill person to envisage alternatives.

Many ill individuals resort to stereotyped means of solving problems. The nurse assists the ill person to consider alternative means of solving problems in living. It may not occur to an ill person that choices are possible in relation to his particular problem or, if choices do exist, he cannot picture himself acting any differently than he has is the past. The ill person’s ability to envisage alternatives is a legitimate subject of inquiry.

The nurse assists the ill person to test new patterns of behavior.

Another general goal in interacting with ill persons is to assist them to test new patterns of behavior. A patient who has difficulty conversing with others is helped by talking with the nurse. The nurse then assists the patient to interact with another patient in the unit. A patient who has difficulty in approaching authority figures is helped by the nurse to approach the psychiatrist. Nurse and patient together develop the plan and the patient tests the new pattern of behavior. The extent to which the plan is successful is discussed during the nurse-patient interaction. The aim of testing new behavioral skills to help the patient to gain confidence in himself as a person who can plan, test, envisage alternatives and face the outcome of the testing. As the result of gaining this ability the patient gains a deeper appreciation of himself as an active participant in life experiences.

The nurse assists the ill person to communicate

Mentally ill individuals generally have difficulty in sharing their thoughts and feelings with others. A general goal in the nurse-patient relationship is to assist the patient to communicate logically and clearly with others and to become aware of what he communicates.

The nurse assists the ill person to socialize.

Mentally ill individuals generally have difficulty in socializing with others. The term socialize means more than the ability to talk with others. An individual who has the ability to socialize derives pleasure and enjoyment from interacting with others and is attentive to the needs of others. Socialization is a reciprocal process.

The nurse assists the ill person to find meaning in illness.

The nurse assists mentally ill individuals to find meaning in their suffering and distress. “Meaning is the reason given to particular life experiences by the individual undergoing the experience.” The term “meaning” is used in a restricted sense and refers only to those meanings which enable the ill individual not only to submit to illness, but to use it as an enabling life experience.

http://mhayabninal.blogspot.com/2010/09/human-to-human-relationship-model-by.html