Author – Hildegard Peplau, RN; EdD; FAAN; LL (Living Legend)

Year First Published – 1952

Major Concepts

NURSE-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP

• Orientation Phase
• Working Phase
  • Identification
  • Exploitation
• Termination Phase

CLINICAL METHODOLOGY

• Observation
• Participant Observation
• Reframing Empathic Linkages
• Communication
• Interpersonal Techniques
• Principle of Clarity
• Principle of Continuity
• Recording
• Data Analysis
• Phases of the Nurse-Patient Relationship
• Roles
• Relations
• Pattern Integrations

Typology

A middle-range descriptive theory

Brief Description

“Peplau’s work is a middle-range descriptive classification theory that focuses on the phases of the interpersonal process that occur when an ill person and a nurse come together to resolve a health-related difficulty.” (Fawcett, J., & DeSanto-Madeya, S. (2013). Contemporary nursing knowledge: Analysis and evaluation of nursing models and theories (3rd ed., p. 382). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis)

Selected Primary Sources

O’Toole, A.W., & Welt, S.R. (Eds.). (1989). Interpersonal theory in nursing practice: Selected works of Hildegard E. Peplau. New York, NY: Springer.

Peplau, H.E. (1952). Interpersonal relations in nursing: A conceptual frame of reference for psychodynamic nursing. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. [Reprinted 1989. London, UK: Macmillan Education Ltd. Reprinted 1991. New York, NY: Springer.] (Translated into nine languages) . Check availability here

Peplau, H.E. (1964). Basic principles of patient counseling. Philadelphia: Smith, Kline and French Laboratories.

Peplau, H.E. (1965). The heart of nursing: Interpersonal relations. Canadian Nurse, 61, 273–275.

Peplau, H.E. (1992). Interpersonal relations: A theoretical framework for application in nursing practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 5, 13–18.

Peplau, H. E. (1991). Interpersonal relations in nursing: A conceptual frame of reference for psychodynamic nursing. New York, NY: Springer.

Peplau, H.E. (1997). Peplau’s theory of interpersonal relations. Nursing Science Quarterly, 10, 162–167

Author

Hildegard Peplau (1909-1999)

Education

• Diploma (1931), Pottstown, PA School of NursingBS in interpersonal psychology (1943), Bennington College, VT
• MS and EdD, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
• Honorary doctorates from Alfred University, Duke University, Indiana Universtiy, Ohio State University, Rutgers University, and the University of Ulster, Ireland.

Experience

• Staff nurse in Pennsylvania and New York CitySchool nurse, Bennington College, VT
• Army Nurse Corps (1943-1945)
• Faculty positions at Teachers College, Columbia University, NY; Rutgers University College of Nursing (1954-1974)
• Visiting faculty appointments at various universities in Africa, Latin America, Belgium (University of Leuven 1975-1976), and the United States
• Executive Director, American Nurses Association
• President, American Nurses Association

Honors

• International Council of Nurses Christiane Reimann Prixe
• American Academy of Nursing Living Legend
• American Nurses Association Hall of Fame

(From an obituary written by Dr. Grayce Sills, with assistance from Dr. L. Anne Peplau and Bertha Reppert. Retrieved from http://publish.uwo.ca/~cforchuk/peplau/obituary.html)