Peer #1
Hildegard Peplau achieved a lot in her lifetime, and her interpersonal relations theory is still relevant in today’s nursing field. She gave six nursing roles; as a resource, a stranger, a surrogate, a counselor, an active leader, and as a teacher (Wasaya et al., 2021). She added that the orientation phase, then the identification stage, the exploitation period, and then the resolution phase, are the stages that a nurse and a patient go through in building a connection (Ikafa & Holmes, 2020). According to Peplau, the surrogate role develops as the patients develop and project emotions of the past feelings they had for their mothers because they depend on the care of the nurse. As the nurse takes the motherly role, they should remind the patient that the relationship is temporary. Nurses should be clear on the activities that should be independent and dependent on the nurse. Nurses take up the surrogate role moistly in intensive care units where patients become dependent on nursing care.
Despite not being mentioned in recent nursing practice, the surrogate role of a nurse is still relevant. Nurses still act as advocates on behalf of patients. As they go about carrying out their roles nurses display attitudes and behaviors that trigger feelings in patients that are familiar that were present in the patients’ relationship with their mothers. Nurses, therefore, have the responsibility to assist their patients in recognizing the differences and similarities between their past relationships with their mothers and the current nurse-patient relationship (Wasaya et al., 2021). They do this by setting a clear domain of interdependence, dependence and independence as they advocate for the patient. Patients must understand that the relationship is not permanent in order to avoid disappointment.
Peer #2
Nurse Practice, the largest medical profession, holds an integral role in patient treatment. Notably, the nursing profession has evolved due to economic and technological factors and changes in the unique needs of patients. Registered nurse professionals respond to optimize client utility resulting from their services. They create innovative alternatives to modify the traditional norms and meet the challenges efficiently (Lee & Son, 2022). Furthermore, the nursing profession has been under proactive policy adjustments to resolve emerging health care dilemmas. For these reasons, Peplau’s theory of interpersonal relations best define the roles of the nursing profession as it gives a broader approach to the scope of registered nurses.
Peplau’s theory is a nursing model consisting of therapeutic interventions that reflect the dynamic character roles typical in nursing. The model sets apart seven nursing roles, some of which are not captured in the current nursing pieces of literature. These roles include strangers, which allows the nurse to receive a patient as a stranger and initiate avenues to build trust between them. The resource role provides an avenue for nurses to answer questions about patient symptoms, interpret data, and give relevant feedback (Arabacı & Taş, 2019). The counseling role enables the nurse practitioner to help the patient to understand the current situation, irrespective of its complexity.
Furthermore, the counseling role of a nurse is qualified by the encouragement and guidance to initiate positive changes. A nurse is a teacher in that they give patients instructions, training, and prescriptions to patients. the leadership role of a nurse enables them to take responsibility for meeting treatment goals, and an advocate role permits the nurse to act on behalf of the patient. Finally is the technical expert role, where the nurse is responsible for the patient’s physical care and operates treatment equipment. Concisely, Peplau’s model provides an advanced understanding of nursing roles.
In conclusion, nursing primarily encompasses working with people, its success and quality of service depend entirely on the strength of the partnership between the nurse and the patient. Therefore, nurses must enroll in Hildegard Peplau’s model to advance their interpersonal relations. Understanding the seven roles of nurses outlined by Peplau’s theory widens the scope of the nurses as they can apply them in different situations (Lee & Son, 2022). Therefore, patients will receive the best care possible and implement treatment with speed and expertise that is outstanding. Hence, Peplau’s theory defines nursing roles more vividly than the current nursing literature.
