title: Examining the process and dilemmas of reality negotiation.
abstract: Reality negotiation is the process people use to examine information from their environment and make judgments about the accuracy and importance of that information. Although this process has been found to be inaccurate, nurses often express discomfort when clients hold perceptions of reality that run counter to their own views. Nurses in these circumstances see the client as denying or as having unrealistic hopes. This article examines reality negotiation in light of this clinical dilemma, focusing on three areas: 1) the assumptions made regarding the nature of reality; 2) the potential and real outcomes of different types of reality negotiation; and 3) the process by which reality is redefined and how unrealistic perceptions are threatened and/or abandoned. These issues are explored as they relate to nursing research and practice.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ersek
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009729:Nursing; D015399:Nursing Research; D011936:Reality Testing; D012938:Social Perception