Abraham Maslow created a theory of human functioning which has become the cornerstone of nursing. By focusing on what it is that makes a person whole, his theory offered ideas that were different from other theories which tended to focus on what a human needs when they are broken. He believed that everything we do is motivated by a need that wants to be satisfied, with the ultimate goal of self-transcendence: full spiritual awakening or liberation from egocentricity (Conway, 2008). Hildegard Peplau, a nurse theorist with extensive education and experience in psychiatric nursing, emphasized that the foundation of nursing practice was the nurse-patient relationship. Nurses, she states, are both participants and observers in therapeutic conversations
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Affiliation to a membership of mentally ill peers may be the most that can be offered. Clients are allowed to receive visits from loved ones at specified times; and it should be these visits that fulfill the need for love and relationships. Careful observation however, will reveal that these visits bring stress and unhappiness as often as they bring joy and belonging. For the clients who have visitors, the rules for interactions, lack of privacy for visitations, and limited time for access highlight how little independence they have and how disconnected they are from those they care about. Visitors are clearly apprehensive and approach clients, both their loved ones and the other clients on the floor, with notable apprehension. Love is sometimes evident, but it is a love in turmoil and fear that illnesses will overcome the person they care for. The clients who have no visitors are often sullen during visiting hour or go to their rooms rather than congregate near peers with visitors. Some clients without visitors gather together to provide each other the companionship they see around them. The very acts of witnessing others satisfy a need makes the gap from where they are, to where they want to be obvious. Fulfilling the need of love and belonging is something that staff can try to facilitate by contacting family or escorting visitors up to the floor, but it is not something the staff can do. Staff members are not the friends of clients and must not cross the boundary of a professional relationship. Being friendly is not destructive to the therapeutic milieu, but allowing a client to believe a staff member is personally or romantically invested in a client is damaging to a vulnerable person and is also damaging to the other clients who witness or perceive the
Affiliation to a membership of mentally ill peers may be the most that can be offered. Clients are allowed to receive visits from loved ones at specified times; and it should be these visits that fulfill the need for love and relationships. Careful observation however, will reveal that these visits bring stress and unhappiness as often as they bring joy and belonging. For the clients who have visitors, the rules for interactions, lack of privacy for visitations, and limited time for access highlight how little independence they have and how disconnected they are from those they care about. Visitors are clearly apprehensive and approach clients, both their loved ones and the other clients on the floor, with notable apprehension. Love is sometimes evident, but it is a love in turmoil and fear that illnesses will overcome the person they care for. The clients who have no visitors are often sullen during visiting hour or go to their rooms rather than congregate near peers with visitors. Some clients without visitors gather together to provide each other the companionship they see around them. The very acts of witnessing others satisfy a need makes the gap from where they are, to where they want to be obvious. Fulfilling the need of love and belonging is something that staff can try to facilitate by contacting family or escorting visitors up to the floor, but it is not something the staff can do. Staff members are not the friends of clients and must not cross the boundary of a professional relationship. Being friendly is not destructive to the therapeutic milieu, but allowing a client to believe a staff member is personally or romantically invested in a client is damaging to a vulnerable person and is also damaging to the other clients who witness or perceive the