Principles of Therapeutic and Interpersonal Communication Flashcards
Why is therapeutic communication important to nursing practice?
- Develops an understanding of the individuals experiences
- Demonstrates concern and interest
- Gives the opportunity to obtain a patient history
- Retrieves information needed for care
- Educates the patient on the care they are receiving
What are the risks of under involvement and over involvement within a nurse-patient relationship
- Under involvement can lead to disinterested and neglectful care, caused by being tired and burnt out
- Over involvement can lead to boundary violations, caused by troubles letting go of nurse-patient relationships and blurring the lines between personal and professional
What are closed ended questions?
- Usually yes or no questions
- Allows for quick, succinct answers to get quick bits of information
What are open ended questions?
- Questions that allow the patient to disclose the information that they want to
- Allows complex answers with lots of information
What is paraphrasing?
- Summarise and clarify the thinking of the patient
- Ensures that what the patient said was correct
- Relaying the key points to the patient to make the points really clear
What are leading questions?
- Steers the conversation in the correct direction to get the information that you need
- Be careful to not use leading questions to disempower the patient
What is medical jargon?
- Abbreviations for health care related things & illnesses (e.g., acute - a condition that comes on suddenly)
- Best for talking to other professionals, talking to patients require more simplistic terms that they will understand and comprehend
Explain eye contact/gaze.
- Not too direct or too shifty
- Trying not to make the other person feel uncomfortable
- Must be culturally appropriate
Why is appearance and posture important?
- Appearance must be clean, tidy and professional
- Posture must be good and not off putting
- Appearance and posture is key in first impression and how the patient will perceive your professional identity
Why are sounds used to support the patient?
- Agreeing with the patient and acknowledging you’re understanding without being verbal
- Too many sounds may lead to awkwardness/uncomfortableness
What are touch and gestures in a nurse-patient relationship?
- Culturally bound
- Must gain consent
- Communicates reassurance, compassion, respect and trust in the therapeutic relationship
- The number of gestures vary person to person
- Adds another dimension to the conversation
Why is active listening important?
- Can listen and validate understanding through paraphrasing
- One of the most important things we do as nurses
- Face the person, open posture, leaning forward, eye contact, relaxed
What is assertiveness?
- Communicating with others in a direct and honest manner without hurting anyone’s feelings
- Direct communication can reduce conflict and enhance self-confidence and relationships
- Making ‘I’ statements (e.g., I think we should consult the doctor)
Why is silence important?
- Sometimes patients need silence to put together ideas and events of what has occurred
- Simply being with the patient
- Silence can be very intense and draining
What is empathy?
- Perceiving the world from another’s perspective
- Don’t lose any sense of self and your own experiences when being empathetic
- Understanding concerns and distress of patients
What influence does development have on communication?
- Language, psychosocial and intellectual development are significant within how people communicate
- Where the patient is in their lifespan also influences how you communicate
What influence does gender have on communication?
- Females tend to seek confirmation, intimacy and minimising differences
- Males value social interaction and independence
- You must not stereotype by gender when communicating
What influence do values and perceptions have on communication?
- Values influence behaviour and interaction
- Each person’s values and perception are different
- People may possess different barriers to communication
What influence does culture have on communication?
- Culture can teach how to communicate and boundaries that others may be unaware of
- Must be respectful of patient’s culture and practice culturally safe care
What influence does personal space have on communication?
- Varies depending on personal preference
- Distance zones include intimate, personal, social and public
What influence does environment have on communication?
- Building successful patient-nurse relationship begins with a safe, comfortable environment
- Busy environments can distort and impair communication
What is congruence?
- Making sure verbal and non-verbal communication are coherent with one another
- If they are not connected, miscommunication occurs regarding the message the nurse is portraying
What is intrapersonal communication?
- Represents the importance of knowing and understanding yourself
What is interpersonal communication?
- Represents how we relate to other people
What are the four phases of therapeutic relationship?
- Pre-interaction phase
- Introductory phase
- Working phase
- Termination phase
What is adaptability?
- Being sensitive and adaptive to the client’s mood
- Spoken messages altered in accordance with behavioural cues
