Therapeutic Comm Q 22
A nurse states to a client, “Things will look better tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.” This is an example of which communication technique?
A. The therapeutic technique of "giving advice"
B. The therapeutic technique of "defending"
C. The nontherapeutic technique of "presenting reality"
D. The nontherapeutic technique of "giving false reassurance"
Correct Answer: D. The non-therapeutic technique of “giving false reassurance.”
The nurse’s statement, “Things will look better tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.” is an example of the nontherapeutic technique of giving false reassurance. Giving false reassurance indicates to the client that there is no cause for anxiety, thereby devaluing the client’s feelings.
Option A: Telling the client what to do, giving opinions, or making decisions for the client, implies the client cannot handle his or her own life decisions and that the nurse is accepting responsibility.
Option B: Defensiveness occurs when the nurse feels the need to defend themselves, their actions, their employers, or others for their failures and shortcomings. Again, this technique fulfills the needs of the nurse rather than the client and, as such, it is not therapeutic.
Option C: Presenting reality is offering for consideration that which is real. When it is obvious that the client is misinterpreting reality, the nurse can indicate what is real. The nurse does this by calmly and quietly expressing the nurse’s perceptions or the facts not by way of arguing with the client to consider, not to “convince” the client that he is wrong.