Therapeutic Communication question

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Hi,

I would really appreciate some advice for this situation. It is a school assignment question.

A patient underwent a radical mastectomy 2 days ago. She was given health teaching regarding exercises needed to prevent lymphedema. When the RPN enters the patient's room, she yells at the RPN stating " [COLOR=#000000]I don't want to do those exercises…can't you see this is really hard for me”.

What is the best therapeutic response the nurse could use? What are the priority assessments in order from most to least importance?

Thanks in advance for any help/input!:up:[/COLOR]

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

Sorry, not going to do your homework for you.

What do you think would be a good answer? Tell us what you think and let us critique for you.

Priorities are always ABCD. If she's screaming at you, she obviously has A&B. What do you think C&D apply to here?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Hi! We've all done our homework! We're happy to help you work through your own thoughts, but it's unlikely that anyone here will flat-out do your homework. Even if someone did, how do you know that they are really a nurse?

What do you think a good response would be??

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Good luck w/ that. Ms. 1 post homework question.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the General Student forum

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Wow, I'm really surprised by the snappy comments. I'm not looking for someone to do my homework. I have my own ideas and just wanted some input since I've never dealt with anything like this. VANurse2010 why would you comment on this being my first post.?? I just signed up !! I think we all started off with one post at some point, don't you? Should I be ashamed Im asking for advice? Isn't giving and receiving advice, asking question etc what this site is about?? Geez..maybe you need some therapeutic communication yourself.

I was actually excited to find this site so I could learn new things and read about people's experiences. Unfortuantly you guys ruined that. Thanks.

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why would you comment on this being my first post.?? I just signed up !! I think we all started off with one post at some point, don't you? Should I be ashamed Im asking for advice? Isn't giving and receiving advice, asking question etc what this site is about?? Geez..maybe you need some therapeutic communication yourself.

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.

Well, I guess we know how this exchange will turn out.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
I have my own ideas and just wanted some input since I've never dealt with anything like this.

Excellent--tell us what your ideas are, so we can let you know if you're on the right track or how they can be improved upon. :up:

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

We are a little gunshy, there are quite a few students who expect us to simply spoon feed all the answers to them. Which is why I asked you what you think is a good idea, so that we can help you think it through for yourself, and if you are headed in the wrong direction we can help redirect.

C is for circulation, D is deficit or deformity; what might be needed for this pt in those areas?

The "first post" is also a trigger around here, goes back to folks who only come for spoonfeeding, have no established track record of trying to do for themselves. You simply got caught in a kneejerk reaction. No, don't be ashamed to ask questions, but you'll get much better responses by saying "here is what I think, am I going in the right direction?" or "this is what I tried, should I have done something else?".

Welcome to All Nurses, I think you will find a wealth of experience and advice available, sorry you got off to a rough start.

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My first thought based on the patient's statement would be regarding pain. I would talk to the patient in a calm and understanding manner to assess the source/nature/etc of any pain that may be interfering with her willingness or ability to perform the ordered exercises. Of course, if this is the problem, it needs addressed with the physician so that an adequate pain medication regimen can be started.

My other concern would be on ensuring that the patient understands the rationale of the exercises and the importance of them to her overall recovery and prevention of complications. Adequate and effective teaching is extremely important; many patients who do not understand the reasons behind what they are asked to do are less inclined to follow through with prescribed therapies.

I hope this helped you somewhat. Do you mind sharing what thoughts you had on the situation?

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Specializes in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

They aren't trying to be snappy. They want to help YOU learn. They know A LOT, but want to see what you know first then guide you in the right direction. I've learned so much from this site and you can too.

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