THE NURSE, THE PATIENT, AND THE ILLNESS - AN OBJECT RELATIONS APPROACH TO NURSING

TOPIC. An object relations approach to the patient's experience of ill ness. PURPOSE. To explore possible unconscious meanings of illness to patients, and antecedents to the meanings, SOURCE. The author's clinic al experience. CONCLUSIONS. Nurses can work move effectively with pati ents when they have an understanding of early object relations theory, the defenses of projective identification and splitting, and their ow n countertransference reactions to patients and their illnesses.