Hildegard Peplau Theory (Essay Sample)

Analyzing Emotional Labour as a Challenge to Nurses

Hildegard Peplau Theory

Nursing interpersonal relationship with her patients is a critical issue that medical experts take caution of when handling. To solve the problem, Hildegard Peplau published a theory in 1952 and 1968 known as the Theory of Interpersonal Relations (D'Antonio et al.). In her concept, Peplau proposes four sequential phases that make interpersonal relations when nurses deal with their patients. The stages include orientation, identification, exploitation, and resolution.

Firstly, the orientation phase identifies the problem, which begins when the patient meets the nurse as a stranger. Progressively, the grade continues to define the services the patient needs. Ideally, the patient asks assistance from the nurses by telling them their needs, as questions, and sharing expectations based on experiences. The nurse assesses the patient's health and scenario during the orientation phase. Secondly, the identification phase takes shape when the health professional selects the appropriate assistance for the patient. At this stage, the patient develops a feeling of belonging and the capability of dealing with the problem, reducing hopelessness and sadness. This step enhances the development of a nursing plan customized to the patient's situation and goals.
Thirdly, the exploitation phase occurs when the patients acquire professional services. Ideally, the patient develops a feeling of integration due to the environment the nurses create. During this stage, the patients may make minor requests or seek attention from the nurses. Lastly, the final one is the resolution phase, which involves the termination of a professional relationship after patients get medical assistance from health practitioners.

Peplau advises that the nurse should use interview techniques when communicating with patients. Such technology enables nurses to explore, understand, and deal with imminent problems. Additionally, the nurses must know the various communication stages because the patient's independence is likely to stagger. Nevertheless, nurses should help patients reach the final phase by implementing a goal-oriented nursing plan. Cautiously, Peplau asserts that nurses must terminate any bond between them and patients upon completion of the task. As such, her theory is essential to the study topic because it empowers nurses who face difficulty handling emotional attachment to their patients. In other words, health professionals find fundamental ideas for coping with the situation without interfering with their profession.

Literature Review
Gray, Benjamin. 'The Emotional Labour of Nursing 1: Exploring the Concept.' Nursing Times 105.8 (2009) 26-29. Web. 4 July 2015
In his article, Gray analyzes the emotional labor that nurses and other medical practitioners face and its implications for nursing practice. The author asserts that future research on emotional energy should associate with other professions, relatives, and patients (26). Again, he insists that there is a need to research gender, personal, and professional barriers since they hamper the recognition of emotional labor.
Ideally, Gray refers to emotional labor as the suppression of feelings to maintain an outward outlook that indicates any sense of care in a friendly place (26). He continues to illustrate that emotional labor happens in face-to-face interaction with the public when workers produce an emotional feeling in front of another individual. For instance, nurses are expected to attach emotionally to control their patients. Most importantly, Grays's work is a rich source of literature concerning the problem of the emotional attachment of nurses to their patients. The author does not only give models of emotional labor in health settings but also gives implications of his study to future nursing. For example, he says that nurses usually divide their patients depending on how well or deficient such patients are (28). Healthcare professionals consider patients who resist professional help badly, while those cooperating are classified as healthy. Such stratification of patients strains the interpersonal relationship between healthcare professionals and their patients, hence, playing the concept of emotional labor on the nurses. Gray's work is intense because it borrows from other scholars to make his arguments firm.
Lachman, Vicki D.' Strategies Necessary for Moral Courage.' The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 15.3 (2010): n. p. Web. 4 July. 2015.

Secondly, Lachman also highlights some critical issues concerning the emotional attachment that a nurse may feel towards their patients. He borrows a lot from other authors, such as Nightingale, to explain that morality, as a virtue, is necessary for the healthcare sector. The author reminds us that the existing professional nursing associations, such as the American Nursing Association (ANA), give an explicit code of ethics for the nurse and other healthcare professionals to follow. However, given the intermediary nature of the health care setting, sometimes, the ethical dilemmas possess emotional labor to medical practitioners overwhelmingly. For instance, nurses need to keep a professional distance from their patients to uphold integrity, but what if neglecting a particular code of ethics sometimes enables a nurse to save a patient's life?