Monica Lawrence

Orientating patients to the ward and introducing them to other patients will help with breaking the ice. If there are other Aboriginal patients on the ward, you will need to find out if it is culturally appropriate for introductions to be made. The patient will firstly ask you for the other patients’ surnames and the community the other Aboriginal patients come from before they decide whether it is culturally appropriate for communication to occur.  Working in partnership with the hospital’s Aboriginal liaison team is also really important to make sure phone calls to the patient’s family back home are made regularly.

Personally and professionally, I have felt greatly enriched by my experiences over more than 12 years providing nursing care for Aboriginal people from remote communities.  It has set the foundation for my career and resulted in the passion I have to dedicate myself to work in Aboriginal health.

About Monica Lawrence

Monica Lawrence

On a busy ward, it’s not always possible to take the time you’d like to get to know patients, but building rapport vastly improves the quality of care we provide, so we need to think creatively on how we can achieve this.

Over time, a reciprocal partnership between a patient and their nurse will more likely lead to trust, minimise fear and anxiety, and facilitate disclosure of important personal information to assist with decisions based on their care. The more vulnerable the patient, the more trust is needed, the harder it is to generate.

From my experience, building rapport and eventually, trust, can be achieved through sharing information with your patient while you are assisting them in the shower, making their bed or attending to their wound dressings. Quite often, I would take patients for a walk outside in a wheel chair during my lunch break so we could both enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. In between attending to the care of my other patients, I would frequently pop in to see if they were okay to minimise feelings of isolation and reassure them that I will return.

 About Monica Lawrence