ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE

COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN

INTERPERSONAL RELATION THEORY

By:

HILDEGARD E. PEPLAU

Submitted by:
Dea Margaret Guadalupe
Kristel Mae Simba
BSN 1- G

Mrs, Maryllem Paguntalan

TFN 100 Teacher
ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN

BIOGRAPHY OF HILDEGARD E. PEPLAUE:

- 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.”
EARLY LIFE:
- Hildegard Peplau, born in 1909, was raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, by German-
descendant parents. Despite being illiterate, she aspired to grow beyond traditional
roles, particularly nursing, which was a rare career choice during her time.
EDUCATION:
- After the end of Nightingale era schools in the early 1900s, hospitals and physicians
viewed women in nursing as a cheap labor source, leading to widespread exploitation.
Peplau, a graduate of Pottstown School of Nursing and Bennington College, held
master's and doctoral degrees.
CAREER AND APPOINTMENTS OF HILDEGARD PEPLAU:
- Hildegard Peplau, a renowned nurse and psychoanalyst, was a key figure in the field
of nursing. She earned a Bachelor's degree in interpersonal psychology from
Bennington College in Vermont and continued her work in nursing practice,
extending Sullivan's interpersonal theory. Peplau served in the Army Nurse Corps and
worked with leading figures in British and American psychiatry, including the
National Mental Health Act of 1946. She was certified in psychoanalysis by the
William Alanson White Institute of New York City and was a professor emeritus at
Rutgers University.

Peplau was known for her "Interpersonal Relations Theory" and advocated for nurses
to provide therapeutic care. She supervised summer workshops for nurses, advised the
World Health Organization, and served as a consultant to various organizations.

Peplau was devoted to nursing education at the full length of her career. After she
retired from Rutgers, she served as a visiting professor at the University of Leuven in
Belgium in 1975 and 1976. There she helped establish the first graduate nursing
program in Europe.
ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN
She was the only nurse who served the ANA as executive director and later as
president. She served two terms on the Board of the International Council of Nurses
(ICN). And
as a member of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, she actively contributed to
the ANA by serving on various committees and task forces.
Hildegard Peplau in Pottstown Hospital School of Nursing Yearbook 1931
Hildegard Peplau in Pottstown Hospital School of Nursing Yearbook 1931
Her fifty-year career in nursing left an unforgettable mark on the field and the
mentally challenged lives in the United States. During the peak of her career, she
became the founder of modern psychiatric nursing, an innovative educator, advocate
for the mentally ill, proponent of advanced education for nurses, Executive Director
and then President of the ANA, and prolific author.

Like any other famous personalities, her life was often marked with controversy,
which she faced with boldness, prowess, and conviction.
INTERPEROSNAL RELATION THEORY:
- In 1952, Hildegard Peplau published her Theory of Interpersonal Relations influenced
by Henry Stack Sullivan, Percival Symonds, Abraham Maslow, and Neal Elgar
Miller. Her theory is discussed further below.
WORKS:
- Hildegard Peplau's works include Interpersonal Relations in Nursing, Interpersonal
Theory in Nursing Practice, and Basic principles of patient counseling. Her book,
Interpersonal Relations in Nursing, was completed in 1948, taking four additional
years to publish due to the pioneering nature of her contribution without a co-
authoring physician.

Peplau's 1952 book has been translated into nine languages and reissued in 1989. Her
ideas have endured, and her archives are housed at Harvard University's Schlesinger
Library.
AWARDS AND HONOR:
- Peplau, a renowned nursing pioneer, has received numerous awards and honors,
including 11 honorary degrees from various universities. She was named one of "50
Great Americans" in Who's Who in 1995 and was elected fellow of the American
Academy of Nurse and Sigma Theta Tau. She was also inducted into the ANA Hall of
Fame in 1998.
DEATH:
- Hildegard E. Peplau, a renowned nurse and psychologist, passed away in 1999. She
was known for her "Interpersonal Relations Theory" and her work in nursing, which
emphasizes the importance of a partnership between nurse and client. Peplau's theory,
ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN
influenced by Henry Stack Sullivan, Percival Symonds, Abraham Maslow, and Neal
Elgar Miller, posits that nursing is a therapeutic healing art that encourages interaction
between nurses and patients with a common goal. Both nurses and patients learn and
grow through interaction, learning from each other's stimuli.
HILDEGARD PEPLAU’S INTERPERSONAL RELATION THEORY:
- Hildegard Peplau's Interpersonal Relations Theory emphasizes the nurse-client
relationship as the foundation of nursing practice. It emphasizes the importance of
partnership between nurse and client, rather than passive treatment. The theory
consists of four components: person, environment, health, and nursing. It identifies
four phases in the interpersonal relationship and seven nursing roles, including
stranger, resource, teaching, counseling, surrogate, active leadership, and technical
expert roles.
DESCRIPTION:
- Hildegard E. Peplau's theory defines nursing as an interpersonal therapeutic
interaction between a sick individual and a nurse with a common goal. This
interaction encourages respect and growth, as both parties learn and respond to stimuli
in the environment.
ASSUMPTION:
- Hildegard Peplau's Interpersonal Relations Theory suggests that both nurses and
patients can interact, mature through therapeutic interaction, use communication and
interviewing skills, and understand themselves for client growth.
HILDEGARD PEPLAU’S METAPARADIGM:
- The theory explains nursing’s purpose is to help others identify their felt difficulties
and that nurses should apply principles of human relations to the problems that arise
at all levels of experience.

 MAN:
- 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 forward movement of personality
and other ongoing human processes in the direction of creative, constructive,
productive, personal, and community living.”

 SOCIETY OR 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.
ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN
 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 NURSE0CLIENTS RELATIONSHIP:
- A professional and planned relationship between client and nurse focuses on the
client’s needs, feelings, problems, and ideas. It involves interaction between two or
more individuals with a common goal. The attainment of this goal, or any goal, is
achieved through a series of steps following a sequential pattern.
FOUR PHASE OF THE THERAPEUTIC NURSE-PATIENTS RELATIONSHIP:
1. 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.

2. 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

ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN
 Patient begins to have a feeling of belonging and a capability of dealing with the
problem, which decreases the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness.

3. EXPLOITATTION 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
 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.
 Patient may fluctuate on independence.
 Nurse must be aware of the various phases of communication.
 Nurse aids the patient in exploiting all avenues of help, and progress is made towards
the final step.

4. RESOLOTUION 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.
SUBCONCEPTS OF THE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS THEORY:
- Peplau's model has been instrumental in the development of advanced therapeutic
nursing interventions, identifying the roles of nurses in the therapeutic relationship.

 Stranger: offering the client the same acceptance and courtesy that the nurse would
respond to any stranger
ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN
 Resource person: providing specific answers to questions within a larger context
 Teacher: helping the client to learn formally or informally
 Leader: offering direction to the client or group
 Surrogate: serving as a substitute for another such as a parent or a sibling
 Counselor: promoting experiences leading to health for the client such as expression
of feelings
 Technical Expert: providing physical care for the patient and operates equipment
Peplau also believed that the nurse could take on many other roles, but these were not
defined in detail. However, they were “left to the intelligence and imagination of the
readers.” (Peplau, 1952).
INTERPERSONAL THEORY AND NURSING PROCESS:
- Peplau's Interpersonal Relations Theory and the Nursing Process emphasize
therapeutic relationships, problem-solving techniques, observation, communication,
and recording in nursing, promoting collaboration and meeting patient needs.

ASSESSMENT ORIENTATION

 Continuous data collection and  Non-continuous data collection.

analysis.  Felt need
 May not be a felt need.  Definite needs

NURSING DIAGNOSIS & PLANNING IDENTIFICATION

 Mutually set goals  Interdependent goal setting

IMPLEMENTATION EXPLOITATION

 Plans initiated towards  Patient active seeking and

achievements of mutually set goals drawing help
 May be accomplished by patient,  Patient-initiated
nurse, or significant other.
EVALUATION RESOLUTION

 Based on mutually expected  Occurs after other phases are

behaviors completed successfully
 May led to termination and  Leads to termination
initiation of new plans.

ANALYSIS:
ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN
- Peplau's theory of nurse-client interaction emphasizes the importance of a nurse's role
in the patient's care, not just in care for unconscious individuals. This concept is
applicable to all individuals capable of communication, and the therapeutic nurse-
client interaction phases are similar to the nursing process, including assessment,
diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

STRENGTHS:
- Peplau's theory influenced nursing theorists and clinicians to develop therapeutic
interventions based on dynamic roles in clinical nursing, promoting adaptability and
generalizability.
WEAKNESSES:
- Peplau's theory emphasizes the nurse-client relationship as the foundation of nursing
practice, but neglects health promotion and maintenance, and may not be applicable to
withdrawn patients.
CONCLUSION:
- Peplau’s theory has proved greatly used to later nurse theorists and clinicians in
developing more sophisticated and therapeutic nursing interventions, including the
seven nursing roles, which show the dynamic character roles typical in clinical
nursing. It entails that a nurse’s duty is not just to care, but the profession also
incorporates every activity that may affect the client’s health.

However, the idea of nurse-client cooperation is found narrow with those individuals
who are unfit and powerless in conversing, specifically those who are unconscious
and paralyzed.

Studying Peplau’s Interpersonal Relations Theory of Nursing can be very substantial,

especially to aspiring to be part of the profession. Knowing the seven nursing roles,
future nurses can apply for different roles in different situations, which will guarantee
their patients acquire the best care possible and ultimately speed along with treatment
and recovery.
ILOILO DOCTORS’ COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF NURSING
West Timawa Avenue, Iloilo City
THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL NURSING 100
PROF. MARYLLE PAGUTANLAN

REFERENCES:

https://nurseslabs.com/hildegard-peplaus-interpersonal-relations-theory/#h-biography-
of-hildegard-e-peplau
Hildegard Peplau (1909-1999) 1998 Inductee. (n.d.). . Retrieved July 1, 2014, from
https://www.nursingworld.org/HildegardPeplau
https://publish.uwo.ca/~cforchuk/peplau/obituary.html