Question

1. Interact with 3 different people and Initiate a conversation. Using the various communication techniques, document the topic of your conversation and the method of therapeutic communication you used to elicit an appropriate response.

2. Document what you found useful with each communication technique or what you felt did not work.

3. Do you believe therapeutic communication will assist you in your profession when you need to obtain information from clients or their families?

4. Review the various types of therapeutic communication techniques. Which do you believe will be the most helpful in your nursing future

Answer 1

Therapeutic Communication in Nursing:-

The guide below is your reviewer for the concepts of therapeutic communication in nursing. We’ve made it as condense as possible by including only the key facts to help you refresh your memory!

Learning the techniques of therapeutic communication is an important skill that nurses should possess since communication is an integral part of being a nurse. This is a study guide about the basic principles of therapeutic communication, its purpose, differences of verbal and nonverbal communication, and lastly, the different therapeutic communication techniques.

Therapeutic communication is an interpersonal interaction between the nurse and the client during which the nurse focuses on the client’s specific needs to promote an effective exchange of information. Skilled use of therapeutic communication techniques helps the nurse understand and empathize with the client’s experience.

Goals of Therapeutic Communication

Therapeutic communication can help nurses to accomplish many goals:

• Establish a therapeutic nurse-client relationship.
• Identify the most important client concern at that moment (the client-centered goal).
• Assess the client’s perception of the problem as it unfolds; this includes detailed actions (behaviors and messages) of the people involved and the client’s thoughts and feelings about the situation, others, and self.
• Facilitate the client’s expression of emotion.
• Teach the client and the family necessary self-care skills.
• Recognize the client’s needs.
• Implement interventions designed to address the client’s needs.
• Guide the client toward identifying the plan of action to a satisfying and socially acceptable resolution.

Verbal Communication Skills

Verbal communication consists of the words a person uses to speak to one or more listeners.

• Using concrete messages. The nurse should use words that are as clear as possible when speaking to the client so that the client can understand the message; in a concrete message, the words are explicit and need no interpretation, the speaker uses nouns instead of pronouns; concrete questions are clear, direct, and easy to understand.
• Using therapeutic communication techniques. The choice of technique depends on the intent of the interaction and the client’s ability to communicate verbally; overall, the nurse selects techniques that facilitate the interaction and enhance communication between client and nurse.
• Avoiding nontherapeutic communication. In contrast, there are many nontherapeutic techniques that nurses should avoid; these responses cut off communication and make it more difficult for the interaction to continue.
• Interpreting signals or cues. To understand what a client means, the nurse watches and listens carefully for cues; cues are verbal or nonverbal messages that signal keywords or issues for the client; finding cues is a function of active listening often, cue words introduced by the client can help the nurse to know what to ask next or how to respond to the client.

Nonverbal Communication Skills

Therapeutic communication also involves nonverbal communication is behavior that a person exhibits while delivering verbal content.

• Facial expression. The human face produces the most visible, complex, and sometimes confusing nonverbal messages; facial movements connect with words to illustrate meaning; this connection demonstrates the speaker’s internal dialogue.
• Body language. Body language (gestures, postures, movements, and body positions) is a nonverbal form of communication; closed body positions, such as crossed legs or arms folded across the chest, indicate that the interaction might threaten the listener who is defensive or not accepting; a better, more accepting body position is to sit facing the client with both feet on the floor, knees parallel, hands at the side of the body, and legs uncrossed or crossed only at the ankle.
• Vocal cues. Vocal cues are nonverbal sound signals transmitted along with the content: voice volume, tone, pitch, intensity, emphasis, speed, and pauses augment the sender’s message; volume, the loudness of the voice, can indicate anger, fear, happiness, or deafness; tone can indicate whether someone is relaxed, agitated, or bored; pitch varies from shrill and high to low and threatening; intensity is the power, severity, and strength behind the words; emphasis refers to accents on words or phrases that highlight the subject, and speed is the number of words spoken per minute.
• Eye contact. The eyes have been called the mirror of the soul because they often reflect our emotions; eye contact, looking into the other person’s eyes during communication, is used to assess the other person and the environment and to indicate whose turn it is to speak; it increases during listening but decreases while speaking.