Recorded presentation

Mary E. Byrd, RN, CS, PhD, Department of Nursing, Rhode Island College, 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI 02908, 401-456-9764, MByrd@ric.edu

Home visiting is a valuable public health nursing process through which nurses experience the family’s environment. Establishing and maintaining relationships with clients is central to home visiting. The patterns and processes involved in client-nurse interaction influence the outcomes of the visit. Although some authors have identified social exchange as a potential theoretical framework for understanding client-nurse interaction during maternal-child home visits, social exchange has not yet been evaluated for its applicability to this unique context of client-nurse interaction. Social exchange theory explains how one encounter affects the next and how interaction is maintained over time. The voluntary transfer of resources from one person to another in return for resources is social exchange. The assumptions and principles of social exchange theory were explicated and examined for their fit with client-nurse interaction in the context of a field research investigation of maternal-child home visiting. A comprehensive approach to theory analysis, encompassing philosophical and theoretical perspectives as well as theory content was used. The theory was refined and re-formulated for use as a framework for the practice and research of maternal-child home visits. Included in the presentation are the strengths and weaknesses of the exchange approach. The social exchange perspective is useful for studying the motivational processes related to client-nurse interaction and the initiation and maintenance of the client-nurse relationship. This perspective is also helpful in linking variations in client-nurse interactive phenomena with client outcomes. Social exchange theory is a theoretical perspective that enlightens the maternal-child home visiting practice of public health nurses.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session participants will be able to

• Evaluate how the principles of social exchange theory fit the context of client-nurse interaction during maternal-child home visiting.
• Describe how social exchange is a useful framework for initiating and building the client-nurse relationship.
• Recognize how social exchange provides a useful framework for linking variations in client-nurse interaction with client outcomes.

Keywords: Home Visiting, Public Health Nursing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation