ABSTRACT
The therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is not a nebulous, kind-hearted, well-intentioned relationship. The purpose of the nurse-patient relationship also differs from the purpose of the doctor-nurse relationship and social relationships with friends and chums.The nurse more than the physician must relate positively to the reaction of patients to illness, including the psychological and social changes that illness forces upon the patient.The nurse spends more time with the patient than does the physician, and therefore has more opportunity not only to observe but also to talk with and come to know the patient.Thus the nurse has an opportunity to help the patient to become aware of and to make sense of, reactions to illness, particularly in terms of long-term personal consequences.
