Taking the Time: Developing Trust with the Hospitalized Patient.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Interpersonal trust is vital in the nurse-patient relationship.
• It involves goodwill, familiarity, risk, power imbalance, and vulnerability.
• Understanding its development is key in hospital settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explain how hospitalized adults develop interpersonal trust with nurses.
• To identify patient perspectives on trust development in hospitals.

Main Methods:

• Grounded theory approach.
• Face-to-face interviews with 20 hospitalized adults.
• Constant comparative analysis of collected data.

Main Results:

• Trust development is centered on 'Taking the Time,' reflecting nursing presence.
• Phases include patient vulnerability, reliance, and nurse's positive vibe, person-centered care, and empathy.
• The endpoint is patient comfort, with nurses perceived as controlling trust development.

Conclusions:

• Positive nurse attitude facilitates trust; seeing patients as individuals, not checklists, is crucial.
• Established trust increases patient engagement and willingness to ask questions.
• Trust development contributes to safer patient care by fostering patient cooperation.