1. Definition of interpersonal relationship

Interpersonal relationship refers to the psychological relationship and psychological distance between people. Since the beginning of human society, people have had the need for communication. Therefore, interpersonal relationships are the basis and guarantee for survival and the existence and development of human society. In other words, interpersonal communication connects individuals and individuals, individuals and groups, and forms a network system that interacts, influences each other, and develops together.

2. Elements of interpersonal relationships

The essence of interpersonal relationships (interactions) is a specific social phenomenon, which generally has the following elements.

Activity in communication

In the process of communication, one party does not lead the other, but both parties are the main body of the activity. In daily life, we often encounter such situations. For example, when you go shopping, although you can actively choose products of a certain brand, the salesperson can also take the initiative to introduce product information of related brands to you for you to choose from. This means that in the process of interpersonal communication, each party is an active subject, and the only difference is that their positions have priorities. But even the party in a secondary position does not passively accept information and respond mechanically. Instead, it understands and analyzes the other party's information and gives feedback according to its own requirements and interests, and adjusts its words and deeds to achieve the purpose of information exchange. . For example, in the process of medical treatment, in terms of the relationship between doctors and patients, in terms of diagnosis and treatment, although the doctor takes the initiative to diagnose and prescribe, the patient is not passive. He can also report his condition to the doctor and what medicine to use. Doctors adjust their diagnosis and treatment based on patient feedback as to which dosage is suitable for them.

The mutual benefit of communication

Although various activities of a single individual may have a close relationship with the outside world, they cannot be called interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication must be an interactive activity between two or more individuals. The information sent by one party will cause the other party to react psychologically and behaviorally, and this response in turn becomes new information that affects the former. For example, a nurse says to a chronic patient: "You have more experience with this disease than I do, so I need to listen to your opinions more." The patient will naturally respond positively after hearing this. Therefore, while people influence others, they also accept the influence of others.

The conditionality of communication

In interpersonal communication, the first condition is that the symbols used by both parties must be the same or connected, which is a necessary condition for communication to occur. It can be a verbal symbol or a non-verbal symbol. If the symbols are different, many jokes can be made. For example: When a foreigner communicates with a native, he or she must use the same language or other symbols that can be understood by each other, otherwise distortion and misunderstanding may easily occur.

3. The function of interpersonal communication

The function of obtaining information

With the development of the times, information has increased exponentially, and it can be obtained directly from books The knowledge and information obtained are always limited, which requires people to communicate information directly in a more rapid way. For example, if you surf the Internet on a computer, you can make friends, shop, etc. Today's society is an information society. Information is knowledge, and information is wealth. Some people become millionaires because of obtaining certain information; and due to the lag of information, you fall behind, or even the company collapses.

In today's nursing work, a large amount of information, new knowledge, and new skills are needed to enable our nursing career to continue to develop, update, and grow.

The function of mental health care

When people communicate, they not only obtain information exchange, but also achieve psychological communication and emotional communication. For example, during the communication process, both parties have the same understanding of a certain issue or a certain point of view, and the two parties will have an emotional resonance. The more they talk, the more speculative they become, and each other becomes the object of drawing strength and venting their emotions. Everyone has this experience in life. Sometimes when you meet a good friend and have endless topics to talk about, it is really a long time to meet a close friend, and a thousand cups are too little. Even if the other party has a certain point of view that is inconsistent, he will not criticize or reject it, but will accept, accept, and reject it. Tolerant attitude.

This shows that they are compatible with each other when interacting, and the psychological distance is very close, and both parties will feel comfortable and happy. Therefore, the adaptation of human mental health is essentially the adaptation of interpersonal relationships. On the contrary, psychological pathology is caused by dysfunction in interpersonal relationships. If each other adopts a negative, negative, and exclusive attitude, it will weaken the interpersonal relationship and develop in an unfavorable direction, resulting in separation emotions. If two people have conflicts, they are unwilling to communicate. You can't stand me, and I can't stand you. There is a huge psychological distance between us, which can easily lead to depression and loneliness. For example, discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, differences between husband and wife, and differences between parents and children will all produce negative psychological factors and harm physical and mental health. Therefore, as nurses, we should adopt a positive, affirmative, and accepting attitude when interacting with patients.

The function of promoting the development of self-awareness

The power of role models promotes people's growth. The development of self-awareness is achieved through interaction. In interaction with others, the interest, motivation, ability, will and behavior to change the self will arise. People understand their self-image from other people's attitudes and evaluations of themselves, and the development of self-awareness also tends to be objective, mature, and perfect through constant interactions.

4. Factors affecting nurse communication

Empathy

This term was first proposed by Thedop Lipps in 1909 , he defined empathy as the process of "emotional entry." In other words, empathy is about feeling from the perspective of others, understanding other people's feelings, and sharing other people's feelings rather than expressing one's own emotions. In short, empathy is observing the world from the other person's perspective. In layman's terms - role reversal. We medical staff should understand and think about problems from the perspective of the patient or patient. For example: Should some of the systems we are formulating now be considered from the perspective of patients or from the perspective of our work?

Empathy can have a positive therapeutic effect on patients

⑴ First of all, empathy can reduce the patient's feeling of alienation and the loneliness of being trapped in a difficult situation. When patients feel understood, they will feel that they still have value. In normal interpersonal communication, people's biggest wish is to be understood. Once misunderstandings occur, unpleasant emotions will arise, and they may even be unable to eat or sleep well.

⑵ Empathy helps patients feel that others care about them, which can give patients a strong sense of self-acceptance. Helps patients adjust themselves in difficult situations.

⑶Empathy can improve the patient's self-control ability.

When patients feel anxious, nervous or pessimistic, our nurses will provide support, encouragement, and care to help the patients. At this time, the patients will try to control their emotions.

Control

The second major communication variable is control. Control is essential in every interaction and is an inherent component of human communication. Control exists whenever one affects or is affected by other people's affairs. Does the patient have a sense of control over the disease? We have to consider more than just personal feelings, what is called "personal control." Also consider interpersonal or mutual feelings, known as "relational control"

Personal control: The feeling people have when they have control over the impact of their environment on their lives. Personal control can increase people's sense of entitlement over their actions and reduce their sense of powerlessness.

Categories: behavioral control, cognitive control, information control, retrospective control

Relational control: considered to be people’s perception of their connections with others, as well as their perception of themselves Can influence perceptions of the nature and developmental procedures of each other. This type of control belongs to the relationship between people and does not exist as an individual characteristic. Through communication, effective interpersonal communication occurs.

Classification: complementary relationship, symmetrical relationship, parallel relationship

Application of control in nursing work

⑴Control from the patient’s perspective

Loss of personal control is a major obstacle for patients, regardless of their illness, whether it is a serious illness or a less serious illness. Patients face a reality - they cannot completely control their own destiny, they have to move or not, and even their personal life needs help from others. The disease creates a sense of uncertainty in the patient's life, and the patient cannot control even the most basic physiological needs and safety needs. As a result, a sense of loss of control appears, which causes the patient to have two consequences. Dependence: Everything depends on medical staff. Some things can be handled by oneself, but they are unwilling to do them. Confrontation: Believing that one's disease is incurable, showing anger, refusing various treatments, and dealing with things in a confrontational manner. At this time, medical staff (nursing staff) should help patients deal with these problems based on the patient's psychology and related conditions.

Restore the sense of control:

Assess the causes and related factors of the patient's sense of loss of control.

Take effective measures:

Allow patients to control themselves in terms of their own management. For example: patients who have had a caesarean section are encouraged to get up and walk around as early as possible, and try to take care of their personal hygiene by themselves. For example: patients with fractures should exercise their limb functions as soon as possible after the plaster is removed. When patients cannot manage independently, let them take the role of participants and work together with medical staff.

⑵Control from the perspective of nurses

For medical staff (nurses), the important issue is not to lose control, but to find "shared control" with colleagues and patients. "effective way. Relationship control is a primary issue for medical staff. By sharing control, individuals' sense of loss of control can be eliminated and interdependence achieved.

Trust

Involves accepting others without judgment. A personal expectation that an individual can act in accordance with the communication of others.

The application of trust in medical care

Trust can have a positive effect when there is trust in the relationship. Trust contributes to a sense of security and connection with the outside world. It makes people feel that they are not alone and that others care about them. Trust creates a supportive atmosphere in relationships that reduces defensive communication and allows people to express their attitudes, emotions, and values ??more openly and sincerely. In medical care, the first role - a sense of security, is particularly important for patients; the second role - a supportive atmosphere is particularly important for medical staff. As a medical staff, you must first care about and take care of patients, and establish mutual trusting interpersonal relationships with patients, so that various treatment and nursing measures can be carried out smoothly and the patients can recover as soon as possible.

Self-disclosure

The characteristic of this variable is that any information about oneself can be communicated to others. It is defined as the process by which one person communicates personal information, thoughts, and emotions to others. It consists of several aspects.

⑴ "Intention" refers to an individual's willingness to disclose himself to others.

People reveal things they did not intend to reveal, both unconsciously and consciously.

⑵ "Quantity" refers to the amount of information communicated with others.

People reveal a lot of information about themselves to others during conversations, such as privacy, marital discord, etc. This expresses a greater amount of self-exposure. On the contrary, being unwilling to talk about one's own situation shows that the amount of self-exposure is small.

⑶ "Valence" refers to whether the content of self-exposure is positive or negative.

Positive means exposing the good aspects of oneself; negative means exposing the bad aspects of oneself.

⑷"Authenticity" refers to the accuracy of self-disclosure.

The degree of consistency between the exposed content and the individual's true thoughts and emotions will vary. Some people are happy to tell their true feelings, while others find it difficult.