Developing a Therapeutic Relationship in Mental Health Nursing

2320 Words10 Pages
Emotional Intelligence and Reflective practice are important factors for nurses when building a therapeutic relationship with clients. Although this is essential in all nursing practices, it is extremely important in mental health nursing as this is based on a lot of understanding and trust between the nurses and client, from first point of contact. It is valuable that the mental health nurse builds trust from the very first meeting with the patient. This paper will discuss on the illness Depression and the importance of emotional intelligence and reflective practice also the importance of therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the client along with the strategies the nurse can implement whilst caring for a patient with Depression. SANE Australia (2012) describes depression as the one of the persistent feelings of sadness which all of us experience at various stages of our lives, but others feel on a regular basis. There are a variety of symptoms of depression that can affect everyone in different ways, these may include: the feeling of extremely sad or tearful; loss of sleep; losing interest and motivation in everyday activities; feeling guilty or no good; losing pleasure in activities; anxiety; changes in weight; loss of sexual interest; aches and pains; impaired thinking or loss of concentration (SANE Australia, 2012). Clinical depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you think, the way you feel and how you behave. Individuals with clinical depression are unable to function and participate in activities as they used to. Often they lose interest in everyday activities that were once enjoyable to them, and feel sad and hopeless for extended periods of time, for no apparent or obvious reason (SANE, Australia, 2012). Various types of Depression are Major Depression disorder (MDD), this is not just feeling a bit down, but has a
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