JOYCE TRAVELBEE

1926-1973

Human-to-Human Relationship Model

Life Story
A psychiatric nurse, educator and writer born in 1926.
1956, she completed her BSN degree at Louisiana State University
1959, she completed he Master of Science Degree in Nursing at Yale University

Working Experiences:
1952, Psychiatric Nursing Instructor at Depaul Hospital Affiliate School, New Orleans.
Also she taught at Charity Hospital School of Nursing in Louisiana State University, New
York University and university of Mississippi.
1970, the Project Director of Graduate Education at Louisiana State University School of
Nursing until her death.

Publications:
1963, started to publish articles and journals in nursing.
1966 and 1971, publication of her first book entitled Interpersonal Aspects of Nursing.
1969, when she published her second book Intervention in Psychiatric Nursing: Process
in the One-to-One Relationship.

She started Doctoral, program in Florida in 1973. Unfortunately, she was not able to finish it
because she died later that year. She passed away at the prime age of 47 after the brief
sickness.

Nursing Metaparadigm

Person
- Defined as human being
- Both the nurse and the patient are human beings.
- A human being is unique, irreplaceable individual who is in continuous process of
becoming, evolving, and changing.
Health
- Is subjective and objective
- Subjective – is an individually defined state of well-being in accord with self-appraisal of
physical-emotional-spiritual status.
 - Objective – is an absence of discernable disease, disability of defect as measured by
physical examination, laboratory tests and assessment by spiritual director or
psychological counselor.
Environment
- She defined human conditions and life experiences encountered by all men as
sufferings, hope, pain, and illness.
Illness – being unhealthy, but rather explored the human experience of illness.
Suffering – is a feeling of displeasure which ranges from simple transitory mental,
physical or spiritual discomfort to extreme anguish and to those phases beyond anguish
– the malignant phase of dispairful “not caring” and apathetic indifference.
Pain – is observable. A unique experience. unpleasant physical sensation: the acutely
unpleasant physical discomfort experienced by somebody who is violently struck,
injured, or ill; feeling of discomfort: a sensation of pain in a particular part of the body
(often used in the plural) Hope- to have a wish to get or do something or for something
to happen or be true, especially something that seems possible or likely
Hopelessness – unable to succeed or improve, or unable to be resolved, helped, or
cured

Human-to-Human Relationship Model

- Proposed that nursing was accomplished through interactional phases
1. Original Encounter – first impression by the nurse of the sick person and vice-versa
2. Emerging Identities
o the time when relationship begins
o the nurse and patient perceives each others’ uniqueness.
3. Empathy – the ability to share in the person’s experience
4. Sympathy
o When the nurse wants to lessen the cause of patient’s suffering
o It goes beyond empathy – “when one sympathizes, one is involved but not
incapacitated by the involvement.”
o Therapeutic use of self
5. Rapport
o Rapport is described as nursing interventions that lessens the patient’s suffering
o Relation as human being to human being
o “A nurse is able to establish rapport because she possesses the necessary
knowledge and skills required to assist ill persons and because she is able to
perceive, respond to and appreciate the uniqueness of the ill human being.
Conceptualized by William Hobble and Theresa Lansinger based on Joyce Travelbee’s writings
ANALYSIS

Clarity – is not consistent in clarity and origin.

1. Definition of terms came from dictionaries and book, etc.
2. Used different terms for the same definition.
3. Focus more on adult individuals who are sick and the nurse’s role in helping them to find
meaning in their sickness and suffering.
4. Deals in families and their needs but not in the community.

Simplicity – not simple.

1. Contains different variables

Generality – has wide scope of application but applicable only to those patients in distress.

Empirical Precision – low measures of empirical soundness.

1. Result of lack of simplicity
2. Defines concepts theoretically but does not define them operationally.
3. The model has not been tested.

Derivable Consequences – development of quality of caring.

1. It is useful because of its ability to describe, explain, predict and control a phenomenon.
2. Explains the variables that affect the establishment of a therapeutic relationship
between nurses and patients.
3. Lack of empirical precision also creates lack of usefulness.