The Contract And Nursing Practice

Abstract

The contract is a dynamic tool that can be utilized to determine the limits of a relationship between the participants. In this paper, the two participants are designated as follows: (1) the nurse _ the one offering to help and (2) the patient or family _ the one asking for help. If the contract is used appropriately and both participants clearly understand its terms, then it becomes an effective tool because it encourages joint participation. The helping relationship has the distinct feature of being a dynamic interaction between two or more participants. It is not a product of circumstances or a mechanical registration of impressions by the participants. It is a shared process, once initiated, that has a cumulative effect with each additional interaction. In order for the nurse to interact with patients, a process must occur. Faith in the nursing process without constant examination is dangerous. We have seen how much of our present perplexity and confusion in nursing practice develops from rigidity of approaches. Tempered by experience and reflection, I am, above all, desirous of making better sense of our approach to nursing practice, of taking on new approaches which either modify, substantiate the old or introduce the new. To act and institute are of little use, unless we clearly understand why we should do so.