This study focuses on power themes in the nurse-patient relationship. The study is a critical reflection of my practice using a humanistic perspective from Hartrick Doane and Varcoe’s (2005) model of relational family practice. It reviews the literature relating to power relationships in communication between nurses and patients and compares the ability to provide relational care in the home with hospital care.
Practice examples demonstrate the shift in power relationships that I have noticed since changing roles from hospital based to home care nursing. This is related to cultural, socio-environmental, historical and traditional influences on power in communication.
The study is based on my reflection of the paradigm shift in my practice. I moved from a problem solving approach to an empowerment, strengths based approach within partnership. The ethical challenges of discussing my practice in relation to clients has been managed by scrambling patient data so that it is not related to a single person and is focused on my nursing practice.