2022 Volume 42 Pages 231-239
Purpose: The present study aimed to clarify the cognitions, thoughts, and behavior process applied by nurses to approach depressed patients who have communication difficulties.
Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 17 nurses with >3 years’ experience of practicing psychiatric nursing. The data were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach.
Results: Based on the nurses’ interviews, nurses who continue to be involved with depressed patients, even if they have to confront the barriers created by the patient, they try to find a way to penetrate these barriers. In such a situation, the nurses believed in depression nursing and did not want to leave the patient alone. For this reason, they could ponder on the inexpressible true intentions of the patients and continued to act in ways that allowed the patient to open up to them emotionally.
Conclusion: Nurses tend to feel helpless toward depressed patients, but they can control their emotions and keep approaching the patient by capturing the patient’s feelings of loneliness and believing that their voice will reach the patient.
