Benefits Of Authentic Presence In Nursing

Nursing is closely related with caring because you cannot be a successful nurse if you do not demonstrate any emotion/compassion to your patient. We as professionals should understand that nursing involves caring for everyone regardless of what they believe in, what mistakes they have committed, or what they look like. Being a nurse is such an honorable profession because we are the person who helps patients get through tough situations. Nursing is integrated into the nursing practice because the relationship built between the patient and nurse is initialized by the patient feeling cared for. In order for a patient to allow you to administer any medications, injections, or other healthcare treatments, the patient must trust that you are treating them with the same care you would if they were a loved one.

Caring is the cornerstone in nursing practice because it is the fundamentals of becoming a successful nurse. You cannot have one without the other. Being a nurse requires the person to truly care for the patient, creating an environment where the patient feels cared for allowing better communication and patient outcomes. Also, I believe that as a caring nurse, my job will not just feel like a job, it will feel like a daily accomplishment.
Authentic presence is the ability to focus only on your patient.
The benefits of authentic presence is dedicating that time to only the patient allowing the nurse to fully understand what the patient is experiencing. From experience, I understand that it is difficult to focus on a certain issue or a person when you have a million other problems and conflicts going through your mind. However, I feel that as a nurse we should be able to give that time to the patient because it will prevent mistakes from occurring and it will also free us a bit from our personal life. I view it as a way to give myself a break by slowing down and helping others. I always feel happy when I know I made a
difference.

Maintaining professional boundaries when practicing authentic presence may be tough if you have a difficult time reading or observing people. I like to look at people’s facial and body expressions. Such expressions may indicate what patients are feeling, being signs of discomfort vs. comfort. There are some people that don’t like to share and we should respect that. However, if we are persistent, yet respectful, we can manage to successfully communicate with the patient. Also, we must know when it is appropriate to communicate with patient. The time we dedicate to the person must be scheduled at the right time. For example, a patient that is in excruciating pain may not appreciate a nurse trying to start a conversation but may appreciate it later.