Question

How does Nancy use active listening? Which interview techniques are the most effective in facilitating therapeutic communication? Does nonverbal communication play a role?

Answer 1

COMMUNICATION

It refers to the providing and recieving of information. Without proper communication, it is impossible to establish a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship.

Types of communication :

Verbal and non verbal communication.

THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION

The interpersonal interaction between the nurse and patient during which the nurse focuses on patient's specific needs to promote an effective exchange of information is the therapeutic communication.

Therapeutic communication techniques are;

• Active listening
• Sharing observations
• Sharing empathy
• Sharing hope
• Sharing humor
• Sharing feelings
• Using touch
• Using silence
• Providing information
• Clarifying
• Focusing
• Paraphrasing
• Validation
• Asking relevant questions
• Summarizing
• Self disclosure
• Confrontation

How does use active listening?

Active listening is one of the important therapeutic communication techniques.

It is an active process of recieving information. It also means that being attentive to what the patient is saying.

Maintaining eye to eye contact, nodding, gesturing and other forms of non verbal communication are the responses of nurse to convey the patient that he or she is being listened.

Therapeutic value of active listening : It helps to communicate with the patient about the nurse's interest, acceptance and respect nonverbally.

It is difficult to be quiet and to listen initially. The non verbal skills that facilitate attentive listening are listed below. They can be memorised by the word " SOLER ".

S : Sit face to face with the patient. It denotes your interest to listen what patient is saying.

O : Open position, which is the position with arms and legs are uncrossed. Because closed position denotes a defensive attitude.

L : Lean towards the patient. It also shows your interest.

E : Eye contact. Absence of eye contact or shifting the eyes shows your boring and reluctance to the patient.

R : Relax. Relaxed face communicates that you are comfortable with the patient.

Most effective Interview techniques to facilitate therapeutic communication

Certain non verbal skills such as the posture and gesture can create an impact on patient interviewing.

Following interview techniques are important to improve patient interviewing effectively ;

• Facial expressions
• Eye contact
• Tone and volume of voice
• Physical touch

Other important things are;

• Choosing a laaguage that the patient knows.
• Using correct type of questions like open ended questions, closed or direct questions
• Asking one question at a time
• Choosing proper place to inverview the client

These all are some effective interview techniques.

Role of non-verbal communication

Nonverbal communication contains every thing that doesn't involve the spoken or written word.

• Personal appearance
• Posture and guit
• Facial expression
• Gestures
• Sounds
• Eye contact
• Territoriality and personal space

Nonverbal communication involves the above points.

It may more accurately reveal the patient feelings than verbal communication.

All of the techniques are important, but sometimes they may get misinterpreted.

Now let's see some examples showing importance and role of nonverbal communication in therapy.

1 - In the case of somatic experiencing which is a type of therapy used to treat the effects of trauma. The therapist read non verbal cues of client to assess the individuals reaction.

2 - In body-mind psychotherapy, patient's breath, sounds and movements are assesed.

So, nonverbal communication is also equally important in health sector.