MARIANO MARCOS STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Health Sciences

NCM 100: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS IN NURSING

CHAPTER II. NURSING THEORISTS AND THEIR WORKS

THEORY OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

BY HILDEGARD PEPLAU

Submitted by:
CABUNTOCAN, KARL A.
BSN 1B

Submitted to:
ROEL M. BELJAMIN
NCM100 INSTRUCTOR

DATE SUBMITTED: 10/23/2022

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 MARIANO MARCOS STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Health Sciences
THEORY OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND

Hildegard Elizabeth Peplau (September 1, 1909 – March 17, 1999) 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.

Peplau 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.” 

She was raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, by her parents of German descent,

Gustav and Otyllie Peplau. She was the second daughter, having two sisters and
three brothers.

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Table1. Background of the Theorist
THEORY THEORIST EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCES
1931- Graduated at Pottstown, Operating Room Supervisor
Pennsylvania Hospital school for in Pottstown Hospital
Nursing
1943- Bachelor of Arts in School Nurse at Bennington
Interpersonal Psychology from College in Vermont,
Bennington College, Vermont
1947- Master of Arts in Psychiatric Member of the Army Nurse
Nursing from Teacher’s College Corps -- worked in a
Columbia New York neuropsychiatric hospital in
THEORY OF London, united Kingdom
Hildegard Elizabeth
INTERPERSONAL during the World War II
Peplau
RELATIONS 1953- Doctor of Education in Worked at Bellevue and
Curriculum Development from Chestnut Lodge Psychiatric
Columbia Facilities and worked with
renowned psychiatrists Freida
Fromm-Riechman and Harry
Stack Sullivan
Served the American Nurses
Association (ANA) as
Executive Director and later
as President.

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 MARIANO MARCOS STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Health Sciences
THEORY OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

Hildegard E. Peplau’s theory defined Nursing as “An interpersonal process of

therapeutic interactions between an individual who is sick or in need of health
services and a nurse especially educated to recognize, respond to the need for
help.” It is a “maturing force and an educative instrument” involving an
interaction between two or more individuals with a common goal.

In nursing, this common goal provides the incentive for the therapeutic process in
which the nurse and patient respect each other as individuals, both of them learning
and growing due to the interaction. An individual learns when she or he selects
stimuli in the environment and then reacts to these stimuli.

Four Phases of the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship:

1. Orientation Phase

The nurse’s orientation phase involves engaging the client in treatment, providing
explanations and information, and answering questions.

 Problem defining phase

 It starts when the client meets the nurse as a stranger.
 Defining the problem and deciding the type of service needed
 Client seeks assistance, conveys needs, asks questions, shares preconceptions
and expectations of past experiences.
 Nurse responds, explains roles to the client, identifies problems, and uses
available resources and services.
2. Identification Phase

The identification phase begins when the client works interdependently with the
nurse, expresses feelings, and begins to feel stronger.

 Selection of appropriate professional assistance

 Patient begins to have a feeling of belonging and a capability of dealing with
the problem, which decreases the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness.
3. Exploitation Phase

 In the exploitation phase, the client makes full use of the services offered.
 Use of professional assistance for problem-solving alternatives

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Advantages of services are used based on the needs and interests

of the patients.
 The individual feels like an integral part of the helping environment.
 They may make minor requests or attention-getting techniques.
 The principles of interview techniques must be used to explore, understand
and adequately deal with the underlying problem.
 Patient may fluctuate on independence.
 Nurse must be aware of the various phases of communication.
 Nurse aids the patient in exploiting all avenues of help, and progress is made
towards the final step.
4. Resolution Phase

In the resolution phase, the client no longer needs professional services and gives up
dependent behavior. The relationship ends.

 In the resolution phase, the client no longer needs professional services and
gives up dependent behavior. The relationship ends.
 Termination of professional relationship
 The patient’s needs have already been met by the collaborative effect of
patient and nurse.
 Now they need to terminate their therapeutic relationship and dissolve the
links between them.
 Sometimes may be difficult for both as psychological dependence persists.
 The patient drifts away and breaks the nurse’s bond, and a healthier emotional
balance is demonstrated, and both become mature individuals.

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INTERPERSONAL THEORY AND NURSING PROCESS
 Both are sequential and focus on therapeutic relationship

 Both use problem solving techniques for the nurse and patient to collaborate on,
with the end purpose of meeting the patients needs

 Both use observation communication and recording as basic tools utilized by

nursing

Assessment Orientation

 Continuous data collection and  Non-continuous data collection

analysis  Felt need
 May not be a felt need  Definite needs

Nursing Diagnosis & Planning Identification

 Mutually set goals  Interdependent goal setting

Implementation
Exploitation
 Plans initiated towards achievement of
 Patient actively seeking and
mutually set goals
drawing help
 May be accomplished by patient,
 Patient-initiated
nurse, or significant other.

Evaluation Resolution

 Based on mutually expected behaviors  Occurs after other phases are

 May led to termination and initiation completed successfully
of new plans.  Leads to termination

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ROLES OF A NURSE

Stranger: offering the client the same acceptance and courtesy that the nurse would
respond to any stranger
Resource person: providing specific answers to questions within a larger context
Teacher: helping the client to learn formally or informally
Leader: offering direction to the client or group
Surrogate: serving as a substitute for another such as a parent or a sibling
Counselor: promoting experiences leading to health for the client such as expression
of feelings

Additional Roles include:

1. Technical expert
2. Consultant
3. Health teacher
4. Tutor
5. Socializing agent
6. Safety agent
7. Manager of environment
8. Mediator
9. Administrator
10. Recorder observer
11. Researcher

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Table2. Metaparadigm of the Theory

THEORY PERSON ENVIRONMENT HEALTH NURSING

A word symbol that A significant
implies forward therapeutic
movement of interpersonal
A man who is an A
Existing forces outside the personality and other process. It functions
THEORY OF developing organism
organism and in the ongoing human cooperatively with
INTERPERSONAL that tries to reduce
context of culture processes in the other human process
RELATIONS anxiety caused by needs.
direction of creative, that make health
.
constructive, possible for
productive, personal individuals in
and community living. communities.

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Table3. Application of the Theory

THEORY EDUCATION PRACTICE RESEARCH
 Hildegard Peplau's  not widely accepted at the time  At the arrival of the
book, Interpersonal they were introduced, such as the Interpersonal Model,
Relations in Nursing concepts of learning through nursing researchers follow
(1951), is being used as experiences between the clients the major assumption that
a manual of instruction and the students. client problems were within
to help graduate nurses  as the concepts that form her the person phenomena
and nursing students Interpersonal Relations Model and were dealt inside the
alike in creating a were applied and tested, many nurse-patient interaction
THEORY OF significant nurse-patient nursing experts now recall Peplau studies.
INTERPERSONAL relationship in any as the one who brought a new  When her model was
RELATIONS setting they are into. perspective, a new approach and slowly integrated, research
a theoretical foundation for has shifted to perspectives
nursing practice. within the social system as
 Her ideas paved way for newer studies indicate that
integrating other scientific broader sets of
disciplines into nursing especially relationships could also
in formulating the paradigm of affect a person in many
psychiatric nursing in its early ways.
days.

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College of Health Sciences
References

Balita, C., Octaviano, E. (2020). Theoretical Foundations in Nursing. Ultimate Learning

Series

Gonzalo, A. (2021). Hildegard Peplau: Interpersonal Relations Theory.

https://nurseslabs.com/hildegard-peplaus-interpersonal-relationstheory/
#:~:text=that%20nurses%20value.,Major%20Concepts%20of%20the
%20Interpersonal%20Relations%20Theory,at%20all%20levels%20of
%20experience.
Gonzalo, A. (2021). Factors Influencing the Orientation Phase
https://nurseslabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Peplau-Factors-
influencing-orientation-phase.jpg

Peplau's Theory Of Interpersonal Relations. (2020, March 12). Current Nursing.

https://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/interpersonal_theory.html

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