JOYCE TRAVELBEE: BIOGRAPHY, THEORY AND OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Joyce Travelbee (1926-1973) was a theoretical nurse who developed the interpersonal aspects of nursing with a particular focus on psychiatric nursing. She died very young, at the age of 47, from an illness, when her theory was not yet fully developed.

However, her studies made great contributions to the field of nursing, promoting improvements between the interpersonal relationships of the nurse and the patient; He believed that patients were seen as objects of care and not as humans, and that this was a main point that had to be changed to offer timely help.

Image courtesy of timetoast.com

Some of the professionals who inspired her were the Danish existentialist Søren Kierkegaard and the German psychologist Viktor Frankl. This explains why Joyce Travelbee's theory is based on an existentialist view of humanity, with man being responsible for the choices he makes in conflict.

Biography

Joyce Travelbee was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. She earned her bachelor's degree in nursing in 1956 from Louisiana State University, and just three years later she received a Master of Science in Nursing from Yale University.

Her career was always focused on the psychiatric field, in which she was very interested. She worked as a professor of psychiatric nursing at the DePaul Hospital Affiliate School in New Orleans, Louisiana, Charity Hospital School of Nursing, Louisiana State University, New York University, and the University of Mississippi of Jackson.

His short life did not give much more, but there is no doubt that he left a deep mark on the nursing field thanks to his theory published in 1961 in the book Interpersonal Aspects of Nursing, which was also translated into Spanish as Aspects I Interpersonal Nursing.

Theory

The influence of existentialism and philosophy is seen in the development of his theory; man is faced with adversity and each person is responsible for the decisions he makes when faced with them.

On the other hand, there is talk of logotherapy, a concept developed by the German philosopher Viktor Frankl who states that feeling full is the best protection and cure for emotional instability.

He defined concepts such as nursing, health, human being, suffering, communication, pain, hope, etc.

Nursing

The goal should be to help the patient find meaning in suffering and continue to have hope. This will promote a positive attitude that will influence your mood and your perception of the disease.

Suffering

Suffering is relative, since each person feels it in a different way and can range from mild discomfort to extreme torture.

hope

It is defined in his theory as the faith that better things will come. It is associated with dependence on other people, as you must firmly believe that they will be there when you need them.

It is future oriented and linked to decisions made to improve the situation. Also, maintaining hope gives you enough courage to keep going despite adversity in order to achieve your goals.

Health

It can be objective or subjective. The objective has to do with the absence of disease, while the subjective is a state of well-being based on a self-examination of the physical, emotional and spiritual state.

Human being

It should be treated as a person and not as an object of attention. Therefore, the development of interpersonal relationships with the patient will give rise to empathy and dignified treatment and real help, regardless of the final result.

Nurse-patient relationship model

Travelbee refers to patients as human beings in need of assistance. Without direct contact and a person-to-person relationship, it is impossible to provide what they need.

Working in this relationship will make it possible to fulfill the objective of nursing, give meaning to the suffering of the patient and cover the needs that both the patient and their family members have.

According to Travelbee, to reach the peak of the relationship, you have to go through various stages or phases. They are as follows:

Original encounter

This is the first moment when nurse and patient meet. Each one perceives feelings regarding the other person, and both are very clear about their roles.

Identity disclosure

With the day-to-day dealings, each one begins to know more about the other and see each other as unique beings, which will lead to the creation of a link between them. It is the beginning of the relationship.

Empathy

Empathy is a feeling that is defined as 'feeling the other person's pain in your heart'. Travelbee believed that this quality is essential for the development of nursing and that it only came into being when there is already a relationship between the two and experiences are shared together.

Sympathy

Sympathy is the desire to want to do something to help someone who suffers. In this way, the nurse becomes personally involved with the patient and does everything possible to offer solutions to their suffering, or at least something to alleviate it.

Rapport

This is the phase in which actions are carried out to alleviate pain and suffering. The patient has faith and trusts in the nurse, and she, who already has a very broad knowledge of the other person, can perceive what she needs and give an appropriate response at the appropriate time.

Therefore, in Travelbee's theory, it is clear that emotions and good qualities such as empathy and sympathy are essential to give a quality life to patients, whether or not they have hope of recovery.

Contributions

Given that the life of this masterful theorist was very short, her contributions to the field of nursing were not as much as she could have achieved.

However, the approach of taking care of the patient, giving him a dignified life and creating a personal relationship with him that gives him a feeling of well-being even in the worst moment of his life, is a concept that will remain in nursing forever.

His books, Intervention in Psychiatric Nursing, Process in the One to One Relationship, Travelbee's Intervention in Psychiatric Nursing and Interpersonal Aspects of Nursing, are undoubtedly the best legacy and the greatest contribution that he could make to nursing.

References

1. Rocha Oliveira T, Faria Simões SM. Nurse-client communication in 24-hour emergency unit care: An interpretation in Travelbee. Enferm Glob. 2013.
2. Joyce Travelbee - Nursing Theory. (2019). Retrieved from nursing-theory.org.
3. Travelbee J. What's Wrong with Sympathy? Am J Nurs. 2006.
4. Travelbee J. Human-to-human relationship model. Nursing Theorists and Their Work.. 1971.
5. Beltrán-Salazar ÓA. Nursing practice in intensive care. Aquichan. 2008.
6. Travelbee J. To find meaning in illness. Nursing. 1972.
7. Raymond KY. Psychiatric – Mental Health Nursing: An Interpersonal Approached by JonesJeffrey S., FitzpatrickJoyce J., and RogersVickie L.; New York, Springer Publishing, 2012.
8. Jones JS, Fitzpatrick JJ, Rogers VL. Interpersonal Relationships: The Cornerstone of Psychiatric Nursing. In: Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing. 2018.
9. Stasková V, Tóthová V. Conception of the human-to-human relationship in nursing. Kontakt. 2015.