This assignment is a reflective account of events that that took place on a shift while I was at work as a health care assistant at my workplace. It is an establishment that has enrollment of thirteen pupils, and they are also boarding at their home near the school. I will call the child X to maintain confidentiality. I was on shift and it was lunch time and there was short shortage so I was assigned to assist with lunch and feeding. I was introduced to child X who I had not looked after the therapeutic relationship which is the care giver and care receiver relationship, there is the therapeutic rapport to establish from a sense of trust and a mutual understanding exists between the two that build in a special link of the relationship according to Harkeruder and Hagan (2004). Peplau cited in Harkreader and Hagan (2004) notes that a good contact in a therapeutic relationship builds trust as well as would the patient's self- esteem which could lead to personal growth for the patient. Reusch (1961) mentions that the purpose of therapeutic communication, is to improve the patient's ability to function. So in-order to establish a therapeutic patient-nurse interaction a nurse must show a caring, sincerity, empathy and trustworthiness.
             This paragraph will discuss my feelings as the events took place. Before I started feeding her I introduced myself, I tried to build a good rapport with her as I did not want her to feel strange as she was not familiar with me. Child A was on a soft diet as she had difficulty with swallowing. I asked her permission to feed her. She looked at me and looked like a blur, I this situation, I showed emphatic listening as I put myself in her shoes. According to Wold (2004) emphatic listening is about the willingness to understand the other person not just judging the person's fact. I touched her shoulder, kept asking and raised my tone a bit because I was afraid that she was not hearing what I w...