The nurse-patient relationship will always remain pivotal to effective management of illness. Peplau (1952/1991) maintained that understanding was an essential component of the nurse-patient relationship. Consistent with Peplau's assertion, Cleary, Edwards, and Meehan (1999) found that understanding significantly influenced nurse-patient interactions in acute psychiatric-mental health settings. Jackson and Stevenson (2000) cited understanding as a central theme in their study about the reasons people with acute psychiatric illnesses need nurses. Although understanding is what patients want, studies suggest they do not experience it from nurses (Shattell, 2002; Thomas, Shattell, andMartin, 2002). In fact, one study revealed that the greatest understanding came from other patients (Thomas et al., 2002). In this article, we describe communication guidelines useful to nurses in facilitating patients' experience of being understood.
