Parent and nurse partnership model for teaching therapeutic relationships

The development of trusting, caring, boundaried, mutual relationships between staff, patients, and families in health care settings demands a set of staff skills that reflect an understanding of the perspective of patient/family as well as one's colleagues. When nurse leaders collaborate with families in teaching nurses, they offer a powerful means of gaining an understanding of the complexities inherent in the health care partnership. This shared nurse leader/family approach to education provides an opportunity to apply relationship principles to real life care situations and creates a forum for discussion of the various perspectives.