Development of nurse-client relationships: What helps

BACKGROUND: The orientation phase of the nurse-client relationship may be prolonged when the client has a chronic mental illness. However, there is a lack of information about the factors that influence the duration of the orientation phase or the percep-tion of the relationship. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to identify factors that influenced the progress of the therapeutic relationship during the orientation phase. The correlations be-tween demographic variables and the progress in the relationship, specifically the length of time in the orientation phase and the quality of the therapeutic relationship, were examined. STUDY DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data was conducted The original study used a prospective, longitudinal panel design. The study used a nonprobability, purposive sample of 124 newly formed nurse-client dyads. Data were collected multiple time points. RESULTS: Variables related to a shorter orientation phase included longer nurse-client meetings, more total time in such meetings, and shorter previous client hospitaliza-tions. The age and experience of the nurse, the age of the client, the total time spent i