Theory

of

Inte rp er so n al
Re la tio n ship s

By: Hildegard Peplau


Hildegard Elizabeth Peplau
(September 1, 1909 – March 17, 1999)
Peplau 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.
she 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.”
Interpersonal Relations
Theory
“An interpersonal process of therapeutic inte
who is sick or in need of health services and
recognize, respond to the need for help.”
ractions between an individual
a nurse especially educated to

This theory emphasized the nurs

e-client relationship as the
foundation of nursing practice. It
emphasized the give-and-
take of nurse-client relationships
that was seen by many as
revolutionary.
ASSUMPTIONS

1 Nurse and the patient can 3 Communication and interviewing

interact. skills remain fundamental nursing
tools.

2 Peplau emphasized that both the 4 Peplau believed that nurses must
patient and nurse mature as the clearly understand themselves to
result of the therapeutic promote their client’s growth and
interaction. avoid limiting their choices to those
that nurses value.

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.
Major Concepts
Health Environment Nursing
Health is defined as “a word symbol
Peplau does encourage the nurse to Peplau considers nursing to be a
that implies forward movement of
consider the patient’s culture and “significant, therapeutic,
personality and other ongoing
mores when the patient adjusts to interpersonal process.”
human processes in the direction of
the hospital routine.
creative, constructive, productive,
personal, and community living.”
 er roles , b ut th e se were not
n u r s e c o u ld ta k e o n many oth e
ls o b eli e ve d th at th e n d im a g in a tio n of th
Peplau a
er e “ le ft to th e intelligence a
in de tail . H o w e v er, they w
defined
52)
readers.” (Peplau, 19

de:
Additional roles inclu
• Technical expert
• Consultant
• Health teacher
• Tutor
• Socializing agent
• Safety agent
ent
• Manager of environm
• Mediator
• Administrator
• Recorder observer
• Researcher
Therapeutic Nurse-
Client Relationship 1 Orientation
Phase
2 Identification
Phase
The nurse’s orientation phase The identification phase begins
involves engaging the client in when the client works
treatment, providing interdependently with the
explanations and information, nurse, expresses feelings, and
and answering questions. begins to feel stronger.

3 Exploitation
Phase 4 Resolution
Phase
In the resolution phase, the
A professional and planned In the exploitation phase, the
client no longer needs
relationship between client and nurse client makes full use of the professional services and gives
focuses on the client’s needs, feelings, services offered. up dependent behavior. The
problems, and ideas. It involves relationship ends.
interaction between two or more
individuals with a common goal.
Sub Concepts Resource Teacher
Stranger
offering the client the same
Person
helping the client to learn
providing specific answers to
acceptance and courtesy that formally or informally
questions within a larger context
the nurse would respond to
any stranger

The following are the roles of the Nurse in the

Therapeutic relationship identified by Peplau:

Leader Surroga Counse Technical

promoting experiences leading providing physical care for the

offering direction to the client

or group
tr
serving as a substitute for
another such as a parent or a
sibling
lor
to health for the client such as
expression of feelings Expert
patient and operates equipment
 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.

Source:Hildegard Peplau: Interpersonal Relations