Therapeutic Comm Q 45
A client tells the nurse, “I feel bad because my mother does not want me to return home after I leave the hospital.” Which nursing response is therapeutic?
A. "It's quite common for clients to feel that way after a lengthy hospitalization."
B. "Why don't you talk to your mother? You may find out she doesn't feel that way."
C. "Your mother seems like an understanding person. I'll help you approach her."
D. "You feel that your mother does not want you to come back home?"
Correct Answer: D. “You feel that your mother does not want you to come back home?”
This is an example of the therapeutic communication technique of restatement. Restatement is the repeating of the main idea that the client has verbalized. This lets the client know whether or not an expressed statement has been understood and gives him or her the chance to continue or clarify if necessary.
Option A: When the nurse tries to equate the intense and overwhelming feelings the client has expressed to “everybody” or to the nurse’s own feelings, the nurse implies that the discomfort is temporary, mild, self-limiting, or not very important. The client is focused on his or her own worries and feelings’ hearing the problems or feelings of others is not helpful.
Option B: Requesting an explanation or asking the client to provide reasons for thoughts, feelings, behaviors or events is nontherapeutic. There is a difference between asking the client to describe what is occurring or has taken place and asking him to explain why. Usually, a “why” question is intimidating.
Option C: Attempts to dispel the client’s anxiety by implying that there is not sufficient reason for concern completely devalue the client’s feelings. Vague reassurances without accompanying facts are meaningless to the client.