Power in client and nurse-therapist relationships

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Social Theory
• Psychiatric Nursing

Background:

• Explores power dynamics within the nurse-client relationship using social theory.
• Emphasizes interactions as a basis for understanding behavior, using empirical nurse-client relationships as case studies.

Observation:

• Analyzed audiotapes and process notes from beginning psychiatric nursing graduate students.
• Six vignettes illustrate patient and therapist responses to power in therapeutic relationships.
• Identified objective features of power, including dependence and sanctions.

Findings:

• Therapists engaged in power struggles or used exploitive power when feeling vulnerable or threatened.
• Nurse-therapists sometimes hesitated to use their legitimate authority due to discomfort with autonomy.
• Reviewing interactions within a power framework and supervision aided therapists in examining their reactions.

Implications:

• Understanding power dynamics is crucial for effective therapeutic relationships.
• Supervision and theoretical frameworks can help nurses navigate power imbalances.
• Enhancing nurse-therapists' comfort with autonomy can improve patient care outcomes.