Literature review : Nurse - patient relationship

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by excessive attempting of losing weight and appearing slim. The disorder is both physical and psychological illness and it is triggered by a body image disturbance. The patient thinks she is fat even though she is very slim. The life of an anorectic patient becomes isolated when the disorder overtakes the priority in life.

The research is about nurse-patient relationship and the study was implemented as literature review. The study focuses on the experiences of patients, nurses and parent The findings described the experiences concerning the nursing care of anorexia nervosa. The literature review consisted of 14 articles that were acquired through literature search using the databases like Pubmed and Cochrane.

The results of the research showed that anorexia is a challenging and complex disorder for the nurses to care for. There are several preventing factors for a good therapeutic relationship between the patient and the nurse. The patients also noticed dilemmas in the nurse-patient relationship but considered the importance of it in order the nursing care be effective. Parents' experiences were positive from the care that was provided to the child.

The results can be helpful in improving nursing care of anorexia and to find out the reason for further studies. The results can be helpful for all nursing care professionals who want to understand anorexia nervosa better as a disease and who want to know more about it.