Joyce Travelbee

• Joyce Travelbee, a psychiatric nurse, educator and writer, was born in 1926 and died at the prime age of 47 after a brief sickness.
• Joyce Travelbee started her nursing career as an instructor focusing in Psychiatric Nursing at Depaul Hospital Affiliate School, New Orleans, while working on her baccalaureate degree.
• Joyce Travelbee also taught Psychiatric Nursing at Charity Hospital School of Nursing Louisiana State University, New York University and University of Mississippi.
• Joyce Travelbee started to publish various articles in nursing journals in 1963.
• Joyce Travelbee’s first book entitled Interpersonal Aspects of Nursing was published in 1966 and 1971.
• Joyce Travelbee had her second book published entitled Intervention in Psychiatric Nursing: Process in the one to one relationship in 1969.
• A person is defined as a unique, irreplaceable individual who is in the continuous process of becoming, evolving and changing.
• Joyce Travelbee stated that health is measured by subjective and objective health.
• Joyce Travelbee did not clearly define the environment in her theory.
• Joyce Travelbee formulated her theory based on her experiences in nursing education and practice in Catholic Charity Institutions.
• Joyce Travelbee concluded that the nursing care rendered to patients in these institutions lacked compassion and needed a “ Humanistic revolution” – a return to focus on the caring function towards the ill person.
• Ida Jean Orlando, a nurse educator, is one of Joyce Travelbee’s influences in her theory.
• Ida Jean Orlando’s model has similarities to the model that Joyce Travelbee proposes.
• In Joyce Travelbee’s Human to Human relationship model, the nurse and patient undergoes the following series of interactional phrases: Emerging Identities, Empathy, Sympathy, Rapport.