RT Article
T1 Beyond empathy: clinical intimacy in nursing practice
JF Nursing philosophy
VO 8
IS 4
SP 233
OP 243
A1 Kirk, Timothy W.
LA English
YR 2007
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1926046900
AB Understanding, shared meaning, and mutual trust lie at the heart of the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship. This article introduces the concept of clinical intimacy by applying the interpersonal process model of intimacy to the nurse-patient relationship. The distinction between complementary and reciprocal behaviours, and between intimate interactions and intimate relationships, addresses background concerns about the appropriateness of intimacy in nursing relationships. The mutual construction of meaning in the interactive process between nurses and patients is seen to lie at the heart of clinical intimacy as a hermeneutic enterprise. Intimacy is distinguished from empathy based on intentionality and the status and location of meaning. Reasons for continued investigation into clinical intimacy as an explanatory model for nursing as a hermeneutic practice are presented.
K1 Empathy
K1 Hermeneutics
K1 Intimacy
K1 Meaning
K1 nurse–patient relations
DO 10.1111/j.1466-769X.2007.00318.x