Psychiatric Assessment and Fundamentals Q 38
A male client who is experiencing disordered thinking about food being poisoned is admitted to the mental health unit. The nurse uses which communication technique to encourage the client to eat dinner?
A. Focusing on self-disclosure of own food preference.
B. Using open-ended questions and silence.
C. Offering opinions about the need to eat.
D. Verbalizing reasons that the client may not choose to eat.
Correct Answer: B. Using open-ended question and silence
Open-ended questions and silence are strategies used to encourage clients to discuss their problem in a descriptive manner. At times, it’s useful to not speak at all. Deliberate silence can give both nurses and patients an opportunity to think through and process what comes next in the conversation. It may give patients the time and space they need to broach a new topic. Nurses should always let patients break the silence.
Option A: 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 C: Recognition acknowledges a patient’s behavior and highlights it without giving an overt compliment. A compliment can sometimes be taken as condescending, especially when it concerns a routine task like making the bed. However, saying something like “I noticed you took all of your medications” draws attention to the action and encourages it without requiring a compliment.
Option D: 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.