Perceptions of nurses in Japan toward their patients' expectations of care: A qualitative study

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate ideal nurse involvement based on the expectations of patients.Data on conflicts between nurses and patients were obtained.The patient situation involved standard nursing treatment,rather than acute phase or palliative care.Methods: Questionnaires were distributed among senior nurses attending a series of trainings in 2012 and 2013.The nurses were requested to return their completed questionnaires within two weeks.We ensured the effectiveness of the interview process to obtain accurate answers.The sample comprised 240 head nurses and assistant head nurses who were asked to respond anonymously to 57 questions about non-acute (stable) psychiatric or physical nurse-patient scenarios.Qualitative data analysis was conducted using these responses.Results: We received 41 completed responses (response rate =17.1%).The expectations of patients and their families were reflected in five categories,namely,inference,empathic understanding,listening attitude,individual treatment,and reliable skills and explanations.Inference was independently categorized as a particularly strong characteristic of Japanese patients' expectations.Conclusions: Nursing care in situations where conflicts or misunderstandings may arise can be improved by encouraging nurses to be attentive to the moods,feelings,and expectations of patients and their families.The findings from this study can improve the quality of Japanese nursing care with regard to sensing (inferring) and reacting to the expectations of patients.

Listen and talk to the older patients:a critical emancipatory reflection on the practice of communication issues

Objective: Reflection is a process of deliberating thinking and examining one's practice in the past and thereby encouraging nurses to make improvements in future care delivery. This work outlines a piece of reflection involving the practice of communication between nurses and the elderly, to emancipate the authors from their constraints, help to find values as practitioners, and gain a greater understanding of the nurse-patient relationship.Methods: Using Smyth's four-stage model as a guide, as well as empirical and theoretical knowledge on nurse-patient relationships, this paper presents a deep reflection on the relationship that the authors developed with elderly patients and their families, encountered during the practice as a nurse. By applying the four main stages consisting of describe, inform, confront, and reconstruct, this model enabled the authors to frame, describe the practice issue, and explore the meaning behind it, which helps to facilitate a structured reflection.Results: Critical emancipatory reflection, in association with the Espoused theory and Theory-in-use, as well as reflexivity, critical social theory, and hegemony, was applied to uncover the various power relationships and constraining forces in the authors' practice involved in communicating with the elderly, such as the underlying false consciousness, hegemony, hidden assumptions, influential values, and dominant power structure, which are subtle and persuasive. By applying this process of critical reflection, transformative practice could be achieved.Conclusions: The process of critical reflection facilitated the development of the abilities required to develop and maintain the nursepatient relationship. It helps to enhance the care of old patients and their families, which illuminates the future nursing practice.

Changes in Japanese Nurses’ Awareness of Patient Interactions Following a Japanese Tea Ceremony

This study provided foundational data for use in nursing interventional methods for improving nurse-patient relationships. This was a descriptive study on the effectiveness of a Japanese tea ceremony (in Japanese: chado) intervention for improving nurse-patient relationships. I conducted a Japanese tea ceremony and examined changes in nurses’ awareness regarding interactions with patients after this intervention. The tea ceremonies were conducted with the cooperation of an Urasenke tea ceremony lecturer. A quiet environment with chairs and tables was provided for all participants while they provided written answers to a descriptive survey, which was administered before and after the intervention;they required approximately 20 min to complete the survey. The mean length of each nurse’s description was 800 characters. The tea ceremony was effective in bringing about definite changes in nurses’ awareness concerning interactions with patients. This study is useful in that it suggests how nurses can maintain good interpersonal relationships with patients.

Features of Suffering Perceived by Japanese Patients in a Stable Condition: A Text Analysis

Objectives: We performed a text analysis of telephone consultation content regarding features of suffering (thoughts that patients cannot express to nurses) perceived by Japanese patients in a stable condition. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted by 8 telephone counselors who listened to patients’ suffering. Interview content was recorded verbatim, text was organized, and a text and association analysis was conducted (cluster analysis, bubble plot analysis, and a co-occurrence network analysis). Results: Seventy-two conversations were obtained and analyzed. It was confirmed that suffering as perceived by stable, Japanese patients had consistent concerns such as “lack of inference,” “privacy issues,” and “nurses’ not intervening on patients’ behalf.” Additionally, expectations of patients when patients are suffering are extremely diverse and were not characterized by specific tendencies. Conclusions: Emotions have a complicated influence in the context of Japanese patients’ suffering. It is necessary to consider the cultural background of expression in Japan to treat patients’ suffering.

Good Relations between Nurses and Patients: Spreading the Wings of Imagination, Protecting Patients’ Souls

Objective: To ascertain a method for building good nurse-patient relations from the narratives of veteran nurses who have accumulated profound nursing experience, and to show these phenomena in model form. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted, verbatim records of the contents of the interviews produced, and qualitative analysis undertaken. Results of analysis and concepts considered important were shown in model form. Results: Veteran nurses, utilizing their nursing specialization, showed “Concern as humans,” transcending their professional specialty. This was expressed as “spreading the wings of imagination” in order to know what is important to patients, and “protecting souls” in order to defend, together with patients, what is most important to the latter. “Spreading the wings of imagination to protect patients’ souls” became the key to build good nurse-patient relations. Conclusion: Nurses with deep experience expressed building good nurse-patient relations as “spreading the wings of imagination and protecting patients’ souls.” We were able to ascertain that in nursing practice, using the sensitivity of veteran nurses, is one way of manifesting nursing conduct.

Balancing the Inpatient-Nurse Relationship in Anorexia Care

Background: Nurses play a central role in the treatment of inpatients with anorexia, where bonding is a key factor. The inpatient-nurse relationship is based on a confident alliance characterized by important factors such as trust, confidentiality, responsiveness, genuineness, and consistency. Aim and Research Question: The aim of this study was to describe patients’ in-depth experiences of their relationship with nurses when hospitalized for anorexia. The research question was: How do women hospitalized due to anorexia nervosa experience the nurse-patient relationship? Method: A hermeneutic approach with in-depth interviews was employed. Five women with previous experience of inpatient care for anorexia were interviewed. Findings: The findings summarized how the women experienced the relationship with professional nurses in a ward characterized by a high degree of structure. The main theme Balancing feelings of emotional contradictions in the patient-nurse relationship was described by two sub-themes;Opening up for a care relationship in a rigid and structured ward atmosphere and Fluctuating in a paradox of conflicting feelings. Discussion: From the patients’ perspective, balancing the patient-nurse relationship when an inpatient involves conflicting emotional challenges. Structured interventions are perceived as effective by the patients, although they may be ambivalent about them. Therefore, a good relationship depends on the establishment of emotional and stable interaction with the nurses. Implications for Nursing Practice: Patients need interventions based on safe and competent quality care. A hermeneutic approach may improve the nurses’ ability to meet these patients in their lifeworld and establish a confident relationship. Special education related to anorexia care should be a priority in nursing.