Relational Ethics and Nurses-Client Relationship in Nursing Practice: Literature Review

Background: This review focuses on exploring the concept of the nurse-client relationship as it may be informed by relational ethics. Relational ethics is a new approach to ethical practice in health care and can be a framework for nurses and other health professionals in considering how to help patients and families. Purpose: To review the basic elements of relational ethics prior to summarizing the existing literature related to the nurse-client relationship in psychiatric and mental health settings. Methods: Qualitative studies and other research were identified by using the PubMed, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, Academic search databases, and by hand search in the library. The search limited to the period 2000-2016. The exception to this is the inclusions of some articles that are considered as classic in this area of nurse-client relationship and ethics. Results: 45 studies that met the final inclusion criteria were selected to analyze theme. The argument is then made that relational ethics can inform therapeutic nurse-client relations in important ways and that it constitutes important knowledge for psychiatric and mental health nurses. The existing literature, however, does not identify strategies that support the practice of relational ethics in this way. This article described how relational ethics is a powerful guide to ethical and effective nursing practice. Conclusion and Recommendation: There is a growing need to better understand relational ethics within the nurseclient relationship in order to identify ways to support encountered situations.