Exploring contextual factors of the nurse-patient relationship: A qualitative study

Communication is an important aspect of nursing care and much of nurses’ duties such as providing physical care, emotional support, and exchanging of information with patients can not be performed without communication. The quality of care is improved through nurse-patient relationship. Nurse and patient relationship in clinical settings is influenced by multiple contextual factors which recognize them can improve the important role of nursing. This study aimed to explore the contextual factors influencing nurse and patient relationship. The study was performed by qualitative research approach. Participants were 17(8 nurses and 9 patients) in medical and surgical wards of Imam Khomeini hospital of Tehran university of medical sciences that selected by purposive sampling method. Data were gathered by interview (unstructured and semi-structured) and observation. Data analyzed by content analysis approach. Three theme emerged form data analysis which influenced the nurse-patient relationship. Those were formative factors, continuative factors and deterrent factors. These themes were explained in detail in the main text of article. Findings showed that in spite of nurses’ positive attitude to communicate with patients and caring their needs, there were problems in nurse-patient communication that prevent from a patient-centered communication between nurses and patients