Healthcare providers play a vital role in patient recovery. This is because therapy entails not just the administration of medicine but also emotional and psychological support. Doctors and nurses are, therefore, in the first line of defense ensuring patients feel secure and are just subjected to shocks. This is, however, not always the case; care providers are a potential source of fear, distress, and anxiety, or are they not? Patients need not just the physical presence of caregivers but also the feeling that they are being heard and cared for. Curtin (2010) tells of a neuroanatomist who underwent severe brain hemorrhage and lost all her memories for eight years before full recovery. Chronicling her treatment experience thereafter, she distinguishes the nature of care she got from the two nurses that attended to her. While one nurse paid close attention to her needs and demonstrated an interest in her wellbeing as demonstrated by her demeanor, the other was detached, indifferent, and generally cold. In her account, the nurse showed an unwillingness to connect and was generally inattentive to her needs leading to a feeling of insecurity. Caregivers, therefore, have an important role to play as far as providing proper and adequate care for the patients’ is concerned.
Communication, verbal or otherwise, is an important form of health care delivery, especially in nursing. The nature of communication affects significantly how the patient feels about his or her treatment. Poor or inadequate communication damages the relationship between the patient and the nurse and consequently affect the quality of treatment (Lang, 2012) . Patients ’ need to know that the professional attending to them has the best of their interests at heart. Once patients realize that the nurse is genuinely concerned about their welfare, they start to open up and reveal more information about their illness, which allows the healthcare professional to be more responsive to the patient needs. Even when patients are unable to speak, communication and attention from the nurse make them feel more relaxed, which increases the likelihood that they will spend less time in the hospital and have a more positive outlook of recovery.
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The precise pathways through which patients detect the attention they are getting from caregivers are worth underscoring. Curtin notes that ‘we are energy beings designed to perceive and translate energy in neural codes.’ This idea is grounded in the findings of quantum physics. All that is made of energy, physicians have argued, is one and has the capacity to transmit energy. Even our thoughts, notes Curtin, are energies that can be measured under the electron microscope (2010). A similar view has been underscored, though differently, in various religious and philosophical teachings that emphasize the unity of one. Sick or injured people are, especially vulnerable as their life energy (force) declines. Thus, by being energy transmitters, how we look at them, what we think when we look at them and what we intend for, all have far-reaching effects. The difference between a competent and superb nurse can, therefore, be readily perceived by the patient and enormously impact their recovery.
Actively and genuinely interacting with the patient impacts their perception of themselves. At times, patients have a dampened spirit thanks to other problems that may not relate to their medical condition and, therefore, require non-medical interventions (Raso, 2014) . An individuals' knowledge and skill as a nurse may not be sufficient in such instances. A simple greeting or striking up a chat about other things other than their condition transmits energy and makes them feel they are genuinely cared for and are not being perceived as a medical burden.
A key aspect of nursing, however, is knowing where to draw boundaries. Different people have different have different ways of communication and, therefore, despite the best efforts by the nurse, conversations may invariably get heated and go in an unexpected direction. Instead of persisting and allowing escalations, nurses may choose a different approach or walk away in silence. Both the patient and the caregiver require time to internalize what has happened in a separate space (Workman, 2013) . It is entirely possible that the patient might be overly unreasonable and overbearing. Also, boundaries need to be drawn in the sense that the nurse should not get overly involved in the recovery. The patient needs to find their own emotional and psychological balance without too much dependence on the nurse. The nurse should, therefore, perceive her role as that of an enabler and not the basis of patient strength (Lang, 2012) . In other words, interactions should be structured in a way that helps the patient to assist themselves.
The inability to deliver close and attentive health care may not always be deliberate on the part of the nurse. Nurses, just like other caregivers, have their life problems that might impact their work. Furthermore, they might have to juggle between delivering care to many patients leading to burnout and fatigue. Being sensitive to their feelings is crucially important for nurses. Otherwise, they might end up unconsciously transmitting negative energy to their patients (Kieft, Brouwer, Francke, & Delnoij, 2014) . This is in line with the notion that even the slightest action can impact the patient perception of care and thus recovery.
Building a rapport with the patient is vital to the formation of a therapeutic relationship based on mutual trust, respect, and sensitivity. A caring and interactive relationship are fostered through acts of kindness, humor, objectiveness, positive approach, and self-awareness. Curtin (2010) thinks that such a relationship even changes how the patients perceive themselves. She asserts that bringing focus, attention, and energy could be as important as the knowledge and skill that nurses bring into the therapeutic process. Unfortunately, it is not always the case that nurses will bring these things in the recovery process.
References
Curtin, L. (2010). Practice matters from where I stand: Quantum Nursing. America Nurse Today, 5 (9), 71-72.
Kieft, R., Brouwer, B. d., Francke, A., & Delnoij, D. (2014). How nurses and their work environment affect patient experiences of the quality of care: A qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 14 , 249.
Lang, E. (2012). A better patient experience through better communication. Journal of Radiology Nursing, 31 (4), 114-119.
Raso, R. (2014). It's all about relationships. Nursing Management, 45 (11), 6.
Workman, S. (2013). The importance of establishing a rapport with patients. BMJ , 347.
