Being more conscientious, collaborative, and confident in addressing patients' fears and anxieties: nurses' perspectives

Susan E Beswick,¹ Sandee Westell,¹ Sarah Sweetman,¹ Charmaine Mothersill,¹ Lianne P Jeffs<sup>1,2

1</sup>St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; ²Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

Background: Developing a therapeutic partnership between patient and nurse is key to ensuring the patient's needs and preferences are identified, addressed, and valued as a key patient safety goal. There is growing recognition that patients living with chronic lung diseases often experience increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression compared to their healthy counterparts. Creating strategies for early identification and management of patients' fears and anxieties is a strategy to minimize anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Methods: This article provides an overview of a qualitative study which explored nurses' perceptions and experiences associated with the implementation of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario's Establishing Therapeutic Relationships Best Practice Guideline that focused on strategies to alleviate patients' fears and anxieties on one respirology unit.
Results: Study findings suggest that involvement in Best Practice Guideline implementation enabled nurses to address patients' fears and anxieties in a focused, conscientious manner and to be more collaborative and confident in their care.
Conclusion: Providing opportunities for nurses to learn and apply evidence-based practice around therapeutic patient-centered care is a key step in ensuring a quality patient experience.

Keywords: evidence-based practice, best practice guideline, therapeutic relationship, fear and anxiety, collaborative practice