Establishing a Collaborative Nurse‐Patient Relationship: A Distinct Focus of Nursing Action in Primary Care

A significant percentage of primary care encounters extend beyond the boundaries of medicine and demand the experitse of the nurse. An examination of existing research on the role of the nurse in primary care suggests that researchers have not been successful in illuminating the distinct contribution of the nurse. In order to bridge this gap, the domain of nursing can be conceptualized as a process of social interaction (Kasch, 1984), which suggests that one of the distinct contributions of the nurse may lie in the interpersonal domain; specifically, the possession of interpersonal competencies central to accomplishing nursing and medical goals in primary care. One central facet of interpersonal competence is relational competence—the ability to establish a collaborative provider‐patient relationship. The purpose of this essay is to ground theoretically the concept of collaboration in order to provide a starting point for research aimed at defining the contribution of the nurse in primary care.