Counselling skills

Abstract

Nurses are not counsellors, despite the view of some notable celebrities in nursing, who assert: ‘We are all counsellors. Anyone who works in one of the health professions and comes into contact with people who are distressed in any way, whether psychologically, spiritually or practically, offers counselling help’ (Burnard, 1989, p.1). We would have to disagree. In fact, nurses of all descriptions seem to do badly in the evaluation of counselling skills (see Connor, 1986). Some research (e.g. Hardin and Halasis, 1983) suggests that in empathy scales mental health nurses appear to rate very poorly. This remark is not aimed at attacking or demoralizing the reader, but is perhaps a challenge for the interested and determined nurse to break this unfortunate mould. It is not surprising that nurses are poor at counselling, for despite its introduction as a core element in the 1982 syllabus it has not found the support in training that it deserves. Very few nurse tutors are trained and supported in teaching counselling effectively, and there is some resistance to ‘buying in’ the necessary expertise due to budgetary constraints.