Uniqueness within the nurse-client relationship

The uniqueness of individual nurse-client relationships was explored by comparing therapeutic relationships of two different clients with the same nurse, and two different nurses with the same client. This secondary analysis included 38 nurses who had two different clients in the original study, and 13 clients who had two different nurses. Instruments included the Working Alliance Inventory, semantic differential scales related to the nurse's view of the client and the client's view of the nurse, and the Relationship Form. The same nurse working with two different clients had different preconceptions, and a different relationship with respect to bond, task, and goals with each client. There was a relationship between the time required to establish a therapeutic relationship with the two different clients. Clients working with two different nurses had no significant relationship on any of the relationship measures. Findings suggest that the same individual, whether a nurse or a client, experiences very different therapeutic relationships with different people.