Personality and Mood Disorders Q 61
The client is concerned about his coming discharge, manifested by being unusually sad. Which is the most therapeutic approach by the nurse?
A. “You are much better than when you were admitted so there’s no reason to worry.”
B. “What would you like to do now that you’re about to go home?”
C. “You seem to have concerns about going home.”
D. “Aren’t you glad that you’re going home soon?”
Correct Answer: C. “You seem to have concerns about going home.”
This statement reflects how the client feels. Showing empathy can encourage the client to talk which is important as an alternative more adaptive way of coping with stressors. Patients often ask nurses for advice about what they should do about particular problems or in specific situations. Nurses can ask patients what they think they should do, which encourages patients to be accountable for their own actions and helps them come up with solutions themselves.
Option A: Giving false reassurance is not therapeutic. It’s frequently useful for nurses to summarize what patients have said after the fact. This demonstrates to patients that the nurse was listening and allows the nurse to document conversations. Ending a summary with a phrase like “Does that sound correct?” gives patients explicit permission to make corrections if they’re necessary.
Option B: While this technique explores plans after discharge, it does not focus on the expression of feelings. Sometimes during a conversation, patients mention something particularly important. When this happens, nurses can focus on their statement, prompting patients to discuss it further. Patients don’t always have an objective perspective on what is relevant to their case; as impartial observers, nurses can more easily pick out the topics to focus on.
Option D: This close-ended question does not encourage verbalization of feelings. Therapeutic communication is often most effective when patients direct the flow of conversation and decide what to talk about. To that end, giving patients a broad opening such as “What’s on your mind today?” or “What would you like to talk about?” can be a good way to allow patients an opportunity to discuss what’s on their mind.