Hildegard

Peplau
(September 1, 1909 – March 17, 1999)

 brief biography
Hildegard Elizabeth Peplau (September 1, 1909 – March 17,
1999) was an American nurse who is the only one to serve
the American Nurses Association (ANA) as Executive
Director and later as President.

She became the first published nursing theorist since

Florence Nightingale.

Peplau was well-known for her Theory of Interpersonal

Relations, which helped to revolutionize nurses’ scholarly
work. Her achievements are valued by nurses worldwide and
became known to many as the “Mother of Psychiatric
Nursing” and the “Nurse of the Century.”
Metaparadigm
 HUMAN / PERSON

Peplau defines man as an

organism that “strives in its
own way to reduce tension
generated by needs.” The
client is an individual with a
felt need.
 HEALTH
Health is defined as “a word
symbol that implies the forward
movement of personality and
other ongoing human processes
in the direction of creative,
constructive, productive,
personal, and community living.”
 ENVIRONMENT
Although Peplau does not directly
address society/environment, she
does encourage the nurse to
consider the patient’s culture and
mores when the patient adjusts to
the hospital routine.
 NURSING
Hildegard Peplau considers nursing to
be a “significant, therapeutic,
interpersonal process.” She defines it
as a “human relationship between an
individual who is sick, or in need of
health services, and a nurse specially
educated to recognize and to respond
to the need for help.”
Therapeutic

Nurse-Client

Relationship
 ORIENTATION PHASE
The nurse’s orientation phase involves engaging the
client in treatment, providing explanations and
information, and answering questions.

Problem defining phase

It starts when the client meets the nurse as a
stranger.
Defining the problem and deciding the type of service
needed
Client seeks assistance, conveys needs, asks
questions, shares preconceptions and expectations of
past experiences.
Nurse responds, explains roles to the client, identifies
problems, and uses available resources and services.
 IDENTIFICATION PHASE
The identification phase begins when the client
works interdependently with the nurse,
expresses feelings, and begins to feel stronger.

Selection of appropriate professional

assistance
Patient begins to have a feeling of belonging
and a capability of dealing with the problem,
which decreases the feeling of helplessness
and hopelessness.
 EXPLOITATION PHASE
In the exploitation phase, the client makes full use of the services
offered.

In the exploitation phase, the client makes full use of the services
offered.
Use of professional assistance for problem-solving alternatives
The advantages of services are used based on the needs and
interests of the patients.
The individual feels like an integral part of the helping environment.
They may make minor requests or attention-getting techniques.
The principles of interview techniques must be used to explore,
understand and adequately deal with the underlying problem.
The patient may fluctuate on independence.
The nurse must be aware of the various phases of communication.
The nurse aids the patient in exploiting all avenues of help, and
progress is made towards the final step.
 RESOLUTION PHASE
In the resolution phase, the client no longer needs professional
services and gives up dependent behavior. The relationship
ends.
In the resolution phase, the client no longer needs
professional services and gives up dependent behavior. The
relationship ends.
Termination of professional relationship
The patient’s needs have already been met by the
collaborative effect of patient and nurse.
Now they need to terminate their therapeutic relationship
and dissolve the links between them.
Sometimes may be difficult for both as psychological
dependence persists.
The patient drifts away and breaks the nurse’s bond, and a
healthier emotional balance is demonstrated, and both
become mature individuals.
ILLUSTRATION
The following are the
roles of the Nurse in
the Therapeutic
relationship identified
by Peplau:
 offering the client the same
acceptance and courtesy that the
nurse would respond to any stranger
providing specific answers to
questions within a larger context or informally

helping the client to learn formally offering direction to the client or

group

promoting experiences leading to providing physical care for the

serving as a substitute for another
health for the client such as patient and operates equipment
such as a parent or a sibling
expression of feelings
 4 LEVELS OF ANXIETY

MILD MODERATE SEVERE PANIC

ANXIETY ANXIETY ANXIETY ANXIETY
Interpersonal Theory

and

Nursing Process
 REFERENCES
Gonzalo, A. (2021). Hodelgard Peplau: Interpersonal
Relations Theory. Retrieved on October 27, 2021 from
https://nurseslabs.com/hildegard-peplaus-
interpersonal-relations-theory/

De Jesus, R. (2020). HILDEGARD PEPLAU, IMOGENE

KING, & SISTER CALLISTA ROY I TFN LECTURE I
TAGALOG I FILIPINO NURSES. Retrieved on October
27, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hNvDh_LpD7k