a nurse becomes vulnerable to emotional and physical stress and experiences role dissatisfaction.
Within the Interactionist viewpoint, a nurse constructs meaning from a subjective
understanding of the events derived through a conscious process of interpretation. Using
this understanding to guide nursing action, a nurse can then provide appropriate patient
care. Because nurse-patient interaction is a shared process, both patient and nurse are
involved in constructing, interpreting, and defining the actions of each other. However,
the nurse is in a more dominant or powerful role as caregiver compared with the patient
who is less powerful and often dependent by nature of illness and needing to be cared for.
Still, both participants are considered integral to the communication process which is
inherent in the nursing process, the formal problem-solving approach whereby a nurse
interprets patient actions and constructs a meaningful approach to providing the needed
care (Kasch, 1984). Thus, if a nurse can enhance her communication abilities and
develop communication strengths, the level of stress and dissatisfaction will lessen and
she can deal more appropriately with patient care and workplace issues.