Nursing Reflection: Engaging in Therapeutic Relationships and Conducting Assessments

Running head: NURSING REFLECTION
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Nursing Reflection
Student’s Name
University

NURSING REFLECTION
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Nursing Reflection
The Australian and Midwifery Board of Australia established seven standards that guide
how practitioners engage with patients. Registered nurses work with different groups of people
that vary from different demographic characteristics that require different approaches to address
them. The reason why the standards were established is used to provide a common ground that
allows practitioners to respond and address the issues that they face with the patients (The
Nursing & Midwifery Board Australia, 2018). This reflection uses the 5Rs reflective framework
to understand how the second standard of engaging in therapeutic and professional relationships
and the fifth standard of comprehensively conducting assessments. In this reflection, the focus is
on the role of assessing the patient through taking relevant clinical signs to inform diagnosis.
Reporting
The role of the nurse is to assess the patient by capturing relevant information that can be
used in decision making. When patients come in the clinical facility, they have assumed the sick
role which means that the practitioner needs to understand the role that they play in the life of the
patient (Lidia, 2013). When assessing the patient the nurse is supposed to apply the second
standard of engaging in therapeutic and professional relationships that allow the nurse to
establish rapport with the patient to ensure that the patient feels comfortable and is able to
communicate freely with the nurse. Perera (2015) adds that when engaging in therapeutic
relationships the nurse is supposed to communicate effectively by respecting and understanding
the patient’s dignity, culture, beliefs, and even rights. This means that the practitioner is
supposed to establish, sustain and purposefully engage in relationships that differentiate between
professional and personal relationships.

NURSING REFLECTION
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On the other hand, the fourth principle of conducting assessments, the nurse is supposed
to use different techniques to collect patient information and data that informs the practice. This
means that the nurse is supposed to assess the patient based on the signs and symptoms that the
patient presents and how they inform the overall care that the patient is supposed to receive.
When conducting an assessment, Wilkinson, Rance, & Fitzsimmons (2017) suggest that the
nurse is supposed to use the therapeutic approach principle to inform the patient what needs to be
done and the role of the assessment. The nurse is supposed to assess the resources that are
available and at the same time develop a therapeutic plan that will be used to develop a plan that
will meet the needs of the patient. Assessment is not all about using machines to collect bio-data
but rather it is about therapeutically engaging with the patient through the use of communication
tools to gather other relevant information that is important in informing clinical care. Patient-
centered approaches focus on understanding the needs of the patient and developing a care plan
that meets the individual needs of the patient to meet the required needs (Henderson, 2013). In
most cases. Individualized care is the guiding principle of nursing practice that requires
practitioners to tailor patient care according to the needs that they present. During the
assessment, nurses are supposed to approach patients by understanding their culture, social life,
dignity and even beliefs that inform the type of care that will be administered on them.
Responding
Jones, Livingstone, & Hawkes (2013) the practitioner forms clinical relationships that
determine the level of engagement with the patient and how the relationship between the two
will be fostered. The Nurse established a good relationship with the patient which allows them to
share basic information like how they are feeling, the steps they have taken on the clinical
journey and the past experiences that inform the nature of intervention that will be done on them.