Reply to this discussion about surrogate role in nursing with at least 250 words, 2 scholarly references within the last 5 years published, in APA format.

The renowned nurse theorist Hildegard Peplau developed a theory of interpersonal interactions in nursing in 1952. According to her, the main aim of establishing a good relationship between the nurse and the client is to promote the health outcomes of the patients. The nurse has specific roles in healthcare, including teacher, stranger, counselor, leader, surrogate, and resource person. The technical expert was later included as the seventh role (Forchuk, 2021). The surrogate role, however, defined by Peplau, is different from the one experienced today. According to Peplau, in the surrogate role, the nurse steps in for another person or the patient. The patient will project their feelings onto the nurse through this role-playing. The nurse responds to this reaction and helps clients see the similarities and differences between themselves and others (Forchuk, 2021).

The surrogate role frequently mentioned in the literature pertains to carrying pregnancy on another woman’s behalf. A carrier’s egg and donor sperm were formerly used in traditional surrogacy, making her genetically connected to the kid. However, in the world today, this is unusual (Kavati et al., 2022). Legal ramifications come into play when a carrier is genetically connected to the embryo. The fear of connection also enters the picture. Families now choose gestational carriers (Kavati et al., 2022). According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the eggs used to create the embryos using a GC do not originate from the carrier. This procedure necessitates in vitro fertilization because the eggs will be removed from one woman and placed in another. A woman who conceives, bears, and gives birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple is known as a surrogate and a gestational carrier. After the birth, the surrogate consents to give the kid to that individual or couple. A surrogate cannot often be the biological mother of the child she carries (Kavati et al., 2022). This means that the surrogacy process cannot use her egg. The egg and sperm needed to create an embryo are given by the prospective child’s mother and father or by a donor. The surrogate who carries the pregnancy and delivers the child receives this embryo. The two aspects of the surrogate role described in current literature and Peplau’s concept do not relate strongly (Kavati et al., 2022). Therefore, it is enough to say that the current surrogate role described in the literature does not reflect current practice, especially in nursing.

References

Forchuk, C. (2021). Overview of Peplau’s Theory. In From Therapeutic Relationships to Transitional Care (pp. 3–15). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003000853-21/overview-peplau-theory-cheryl-forchuk

Kavati, A. B., & Ramirez, F. (2022). Nursing commentary to “Surrogate decision-making in crisis .”Journal of Medical Ethics, 48(5), 293–294. https://jme.bmj.com/content/48/5/293.abstract