Developing Trust in Nurse-Patient Relationship

Trust is considered the foundation of nursing care and essential to the nurse-patient relationship. Trust between a nurse and a patient has been suggested to have a positive influence on the care results as well. Furthermore, many factors seem to affect the development of trust in a nurse-patient relationship. The aim and purpose of the literature review was to gather current evidence-based information applicable to nursing science, about factors influencing the development of trust between a nurse and a patient. The articles used in the study were obtained from databases, CINAHL (EBSCO) and Academic Search Elite, offered by JAMK University of Applied Sciences. The article search process was guided by predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The relevance of the title, abstract and ultimately full text of the articles were evaluated leading to seven selected articles in total. Two of the articles were discovered via manual search. The article analysis was performed utilizing the flexible structure of thematic analysis. The selected articles were read repeatedly and the results were coded in a chart, finally creating the main themes followed by subcategories. The study identified five main themes: Communication - a key factor in a nurse-patient relationship, Manner of interacting with patients, Quality of care, Nursing Competence and Attributes of care provider. The results indicated the significance of connection, positive interaction and empathy which supported the development of trust between a nurse and a patient. The way the care was provided, the skills and attributes of a nurse together with familiarity, race, culture and matters considering facilities providing the care were also influential factors within the development of trust. The study findings indicate that there are many ways nurses may influence the development of trust with patients. However, some influential factors are not dependent on the actions or qualities of a nurse. In addition, the findings suggest that trust is not gained through the status of the nursing profession only but requires true effort to be developed. As trust appears to have a major influence on nurse patient relationships and thus, care results as well, more research is needed to fully understand the diversity and extent of factors that influence the development and continuity of trust and the benefits of it in health care and nursing