Running head: ANALYSIS OF NURSE-RESIDENT RELATIONSHIPS 1

Analysis of Nurse-Resident Relationships in LTC Facility

Cassandra Delaney

0618832

NURS-1002H

March 16th, 2018

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ANALYSIS OF NURSE-RESIDENT RELATIONSHIPS 2

Analysis of Nurse-Resident Relationships in LTC Facility

Ms. Smith relies heavily on the relationships in her life to keep her strong. She is in daily

contact with her family, specifically her daughter. Her husband and first daughter passed away a

year ago and to push through this difficult time, she relied on her four children to help her

through. She states that they are her largest motivation to keep moving forward in life. She has a

large and loving family which can be viewed in Appendix A. She has other connections to keep

her strong and happy such as her friends at the LTC Facility, friend from back home, the staff at

the facility, specifically the nurse that took care of her husband before he passed, as well as

volunteering her time at the local food bank. She not only relies on her friends and family for her

emotional state, but she also relies on her family for her transportation to her volunteer position.

She is a very kind and positive person and doesn’t engage in anything negative which is why she

does not have any negative relationships in her life. These relationships can be viewed in

Appendix B. Living in a LTC facility is not easy nor an easy adjustment, that is why these

relationships are very important in keeping the resident healthy, both physically and mentally.

These relationships explained above are very important, but they also come with many

possible implications. The first main implication that could arise is that the family could try to

intervene with the care being provided resulting in tension being formed between the resident,

the nurse and the resident’s family members due to the strong relationship. As nurses, we must

be “addressing how families can most enjoy their visits and positively influence quality of life on

the part of residents” (Lazarus, 2006) to ensure that they do not begin over stepping boundaries.

The second implication that may arise could be due to her family and friends not being able to

visit as often as the resident may want, resulting in her becoming upset and begin having
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behavioural issues due to this sadness. Another implication that may arise is that if the family

cannot visit as often as the resident wishes then she will also not be able to volunteer at the food

bank as much as she desires. This will cause a more extreme reaction since this will be an

additional relationship that she values to be taken away leaving her emotional state very unstable

worsening her behavioural issues. Since Ms. Smith has very strong connections with her family

and friends, a good way to allow Ms. Smith to excel in a positive manner would be to maintain

these strong connections and to have these connections available with the nursing staff to help

her when needed. A therapist or someone for Ms. Smith to converse with is also an option to

help her fulfill her need for these open and social relationships. Another possible way to help Ms.

Smith would be to assist with access of transportation or opportunities to volunteer. Coping with

these possible implications is detrimental and if us as nurses aren’t there to help her cope then

our efforts will be “ineffective, stress is substantial and may have damaging consequences on

health. If coping is effective, stress is likely to remain under control” (Gaugler et al., 2004).

These implications can cause very detrimental effects upon the resident but if the nurses can put

forward the proper interventions to take care of her emotionally as well as physically, then it will

allow her to excel and continue to live happily and healthy.

Relationships are a very important part of everyone’s life, especially the life of Ms.

Smith. She relies very heavily on the relationships of her family as well as her friends. She also

finds great joy in giving back to her community which is an amazing quality to attain. Many

implications may arise due to her need for constant caring relationships which is why a great way

to help assist her with these needs when they are not being met is to have kind and caring nurses

as well as a therapist available to help Ms. Smith. Providing transportation and opportunities to
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help allow her to volunteer is another way that can help Ms. Smith when she needs the emotional

support. She is a very kind and sweet woman that deserves to live a happy and healthy life!

References

Gaugler, J. E., Anderson, K. A., & Leach, C. R. (2004). Predictors of Family Involvement in

Residential Long-Term Care. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 42(1), 3-26.

doi:10.1300/j083v42n01_02

Lazarus, R. S. (2006). Emotions and Interpersonal Relationships: Toward a Person-Centered

Conceptualization of Emotions and Coping. Journal of Personality, 74(1), 9-46.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00368.x
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Appendix A

Genogram
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Appendix B

Ecomap