Nurse-Patient communication/teaching...

[DalmatiaRN]

I recently had a discussion regarding nurse-patient communication, I have witnessed nurses being direct and candid with patients about their situations and possible outcomes and I have also witnessed instances where the information given is rather vague or ambiguous. I realize that each type of communication may have specific instances where one may be more appropriate than the other.

My question is, generally speaking, which approach would be more appropriate? Do you to tell patients matter-of-factly, "Look, if you continue to smoke, this XXXX will only continue to get worse and may eventually kill you." Or something more along the lines of . . . "Cigarette smoking contributes to XXXX and can increase your symptoms." Please share :)

Yes, I am a student and if anyone has read any articles pertaining to this I am interested. No this is not homework, I am just trying to be a better communicator and become more effective in patient teaching.

[FowLaf24/7]

I believe it is the nurses' position and also duty to inform the patient. I can understand one's hesitance to come off as too strong, but this may be the optimal opportunity where the patient is in need of the honest truth. It is my belief the nurse who refrains from giving the proper medical advice is negligent. It is actually part of the nurse's license to teach. If the patient does not want to receive the information, then that can be dealt with in another manner. Unfortunately, a nurse will see both kinds of patients. Some people in the great United States rather believe there is a quick fix for their damage they have done to their bodies over the decades. I rather have the temporary pain of getting in shape, than to endure the pain of an open heart surgery, which is actually a salvage job. "One can lead a horse to water, but they may not drink." "A nurse can not save them all!":smokin:

[tewdles, RN]

Both approaches have value in the appropriate situation. For instance, it is not very helpful for me to tell my terminal COPD patient that smoking is going to kill him...it may be helpful, however, for me to tell him that smoking will likely increase his symptoms, or that he may burn himself up if he smokes while using his oxygen (just happened to one of my patients this week).

However, when I worked in community health I routinely educated patients on the long term health affects of their choices...all kinds of choices smoking, drinking, sex, drugs, vaccinations, diet, etc... Teaching is a huge part of what many nurses do...so your interest in honing your communication skills is wise. Good luck

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

therapeutic communication is approached in nursing school, but really does take practice. The ideal situation would be to be frank and ask open-ended questions. I believe many nurses have to work at being a good communicator, especially when bad news is involved.