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Fonesia Fain

Dr. Healy

ENC2135: Rhetorical Analysis

8 July 2022

Why are psychological studies needed in health professions?

My research aims to prove that psychology is necessary, especially in health or

therapeutic involvement. Cathy Parkes’s Youtube video “Nurse/Client Relationship, Therapeutic

Communication - Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing” is highly credible because she earned four

health care credentials: BSN, RN (Registered Nurse), CWCN, and PHN. As said in the

description box, she offers this tutorial to support RN and PN nursing trainees with their

examinations. Two discourse communities are the nursing students and the patients or clients

involved with the types of care she discusses. This tutorial also talks about therapeutic

communication involving feelings and thoughts. The rhetorical appeals I have gathered are

pathos and logos rhetorical appeals.

She talks about the four stages of the nurse/client relationship. Then, the primary

therapeutic communication methods, as well as the non-therapeutic communication methods,

were made available in the video. She secures that her audience understands what she delivers in

the video. Cathy employs the logos rhetorical appeal as she speaks about validities and gives

examples of those points embedded in the video about nursing and client connections. The facts

and criteria also correlate to the research question about why health care professionals must take

psychology seriously. There are two sorts of genres in the video, which are narrative and

descriptive.
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The nurse/client relationship has pre-orientation, orientation, termination, and working

phases. Psychological capabilities and contact skills are fundamental to connecting with the

patient or client. Pre-orientation is a meet and greets preparation before the orientation with that

patient, orienting one another and creating first impressions. Both are still collecting those

emotions and feelings amidst it all. The orientation phase is the most crucial of the four steps

since the onset of the patient and the caregiver conversing. As they do that, the caregiver gets an

insight into how they need to care for that client differently from the others. Since all of these

are connected to their emotional well-being, it is the pathos rhetorical appeal.

The countertransference and transference phases are also mentioned. Those two

transferences are the parts where psychology arrives into place. For instance, dementia patients

recall details of the past but not the entire thing. They may say, “you are not kin to me,” even

though you may be their niece. Studying the mind and body functions is a great way to

understand why the patient/client reacts.

Another thing is that all patients’ or clients’ reasons for confiding in you are for different

reasons. Therefore, clients require different types of attention and care. When a nurse knows that

this patient is only saying things because some of their brain cells are completely shutting down,

they must find ways to only care for that patient in ways that no other patient will understand.

Transference is redirecting or transferring feelings about a person from the past onto the nurse.

In the termination phase, the health care professional and the client summarize the goals

achieved during the relationship, new coping mechanisms and problem-solving skills, discharge

plan, and allow time for the patient to share their feelings regarding the termination of their

relationship. The patience with that person to establish health goals is also why psychology is
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vital in health professions. In connection with Samantha’s research, she included that this type of

alliance is a core part of positive outcomes for people utilizing mental health services.

Samantha Hartley’s research is credible because the NIHR funds her for integrated

clinical academic clinical leadership for her research project. Also, she uses valid online

databases such as PsycINFO, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online,

Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and other reviewed references. This

source is a systemic literature review article which is the type of genre. The discourse

community is a share of both sources like healthcare professionals and upcoming nursing

students.

Like the youtube video, Samantha’s research also involves therapeutic relationships in

health care settings. The only difference is that Cathy is leaning more toward a therapist-client

relationship than a nurse-patient one, although she discusses the two types. However, both

parties require some psychology because they must be aware of their mind and body relationship

with themselves and with whom they are talking.

The genre of Samantha’s writing is more like an abstract and a critique because the data

she used was extracted using a pre-determined extraction form and conducted reliability

evaluations. Unlike the youtube video, information to gather details for this systemic literature

review pertained to design, participants, interventions, and findings.

The exigence is that the methods used to support nursing staff to develop and maintain

good therapeutic relationships are poor, despite being a vital aspect of the nursing role and a

significant contributor to positive outcomes. In Cathy’s video, it is like it is responding to

Samantha’s article on processes to better poor relationships. The therapeutic alliance is a multi-

faceted concept valued by patients while being difficult for staff to develop. The nursing staff is
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the core of the caring profession, and central to their role is the development of effective

relationships with the individuals they support. People supported by secondary care services are

those experiencing severe mental health difficulties, often in the context of challenging relational

and social circumstances.

Psychology helps create mutuality, reciprocity, synchrony, and a sense of belonging with

clients. Nursing staff and patients are often not supported or guided by the psychological theory

of relationships; there is a substantial theory-practice gap that might leave staff and service users

vulnerable to relational difficulties and the consequent impact on wellbeing and outcomes. There

has been some tentative progress in supporting effective relationships, indicating that clinical

supervision can protect against staff burnout. Psychologically-informed case discussions can

enhance positive feelings toward service users and reduce staff self-blame. The reexamination

contains studies from any mental health service context (such as community, inpatient), client

groups of any age, with any mental health diagnosis or need, and interventions targeted at the

relationship with either qualified or non-qualified nursing staff. About “Effective nurse-patient

relationships in mental health care: a systemic review of interventions to improve the therapeutic

alliance,” This paper, therefore, should serve as an impetus to develop a clear trajectory of

research endeavors that build on the current findings and creates a more robust body of work

incorporating the following key elements:

1. Intervention based on solid theoretical underpinnings and service user and clinician

involvement

2. Methodologically sound studies

3. Assessment of fidelity to the intervention model

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4. Targeting and evaluation of the alliance aligned with its conceptualization as a dyadic,

mutual, professional relationship outside the specific bounds of psychotherapy

Psychology has many reasons why it is vital in developing relationships in general.

However, it is essential in nurse-client or nurse-patient relationships. The mental and emotional

characteristics that are highly talked about in both research references will influence the purpose

of my research. One comparison is that the sources I selected can share discourse communities.

One more is that they are discussing the importance of building those relationships and how

psychology plays a role.

Some differences include how Cathy is more in-depth than Samantha’s source because

she follows up on different steps and provides context. Another difference is that Samantha’s

article is more of a problem that is looking to be solved regarding the poor relationships that the

nurses and clients have. For example, Cathy explains a few non-therapeutic communications that

may be some of the problems of why some nurse-patient relationships are not working.

From Cathy’s video, I gathered that there are five components to the nurse-client

relationship: trust, respect, professional intimacy, empathy, and power. From Samantha’s

research, I concluded that we should improve these relationships because these beneficial

components are always present. As discussed, therapeutic interpersonal relationships between

health care professionals and patients are associated with improved patient satisfaction,

adherence to treatment, quality of life, levels of anxiety and depression, and decreased health

care costs.

The nurse-patient relationship encourages nurses to spend more time, connect, interact

with their patients, and understand their needs. It assists nurses in establishing a unique

perspective regarding the meaning of the patient’s illness, beliefs, and preferences of
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patients/families. The underlying codes of the therapeutic connection are the same: respect,

genuineness, empathy, active listening, and confidentiality. The purpose of the therapeutic

relationship is to support the patient, promote healing, and support or enhance functioning.

Knowledge of psychology is not only a valuable skill for a nurse but is often one of the essential

prerequisites or mandated courses in nursing school. Apart from the credibility, Cathy earned her

BSN. Still, a bachelor’s degree in psychology can support a quicker process of working toward

the goal of a health care professional or one that only focuses on mental health. Nursing and

psychology degrees prepare students to offer compassionate, knowledgeable care and help others

achieve total wellness which is why it is required for most majors in general.
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Works Cited

Hartley, Samantha, et al. “Effective nurse-patient relationships in mental health care: A

systematic review of interventions to improve the therapeutic alliance.” International

journal of nursing studies vol. 102 (Feb. 2020),

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7026691/

Parks, Cathy. “Nurse/Client Relationship, Therapeutic Communication - Psychiatric Mental

Health Nursing.” Youtube, 21 July 2021, Nurse/Client Relationship, Therapeutic

Communication- Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_59thyrje8