Therapeutic Communication
This technique involves fully focusing on the patient and acknowledging their message without interrupting.
What is active listening?
Rationale: Active listening builds trust and ensures the nurse accurately understands the patient’s concerns.
This SBAR component includes relevant patient history and context.
What is Background?
Rationale: Background provides essential context that informs clinical decision-making.
This leadership style involves group decision-making and team input.
What is democratic leadership?
Rationale: Democratic leaders promote engagement and shared decision-making.
This framework ensures safe delegation and includes the right task, circumstance, person, direction, and supervision.
What are the Five Rights of Delegation?
Rationale: Following all five rights reduces risk and ensures patient safety.
This concept involves recognizing and respecting differences in beliefs, values, and practices.
What is cultural sensitivity?
Rationale: Cultural sensitivity reduces bias and improves patient trust.
This law protects patient privacy and confidentiality.
What is HIPAA?
Rationale: HIPAA ensures patient information is protected and shared only when appropriate.
Doing good for the patient reflects this principle.
What is beneficence?
Rationale: Beneficence focuses on promoting patient well-being.
This ethical principle means doing no harm.
What is nonmaleficence?
Rationale: Nonmaleficence requires healthcare providers to avoid causing harm to patients.
A nurse says, “It sounds like you’re feeling overwhelmed right now.” This is an example of this therapeutic technique.
What is reflecting?
Rationale: Reflecting restates feelings, helping patients feel heard and encouraging deeper expression.
This SBAR component includes what the nurse believes should happen next.
What is Recommendation?
Rationale: Recommendation shows clinical judgment and promotes timely intervention.
This leadership style involves strict control and decision-making by the leader.
What is autocratic leadership?
Rationale: Autocratic leadership is efficient but limits team input.
An RN assigns a stable patient’s vital signs to a CNA. This is an example of this principle.
What is appropriate delegation?
Rationale: CNAs can perform routine, non-invasive tasks on stable patients.
Avoiding assumptions and asking patients about their preferences demonstrates this nursing approach.
What is cultural competence?
Rationale: Cultural competence requires active learning and individualized care.
This act defines the scope of nursing practice within a state.
What is the Nurse Practice Act?
Rationale: The NPA outlines legal responsibilities and limits of nursing practice.
Avoiding harm reflects this principle.
What is nonmaleficence?
Rationale: “Do no harm” is a core nursing responsibility.
This process ensures patients understand risks, benefits, and alternatives before a procedure.
What is informed consent?
Rationale: Informed consent protects patient autonomy and legal rights.
When a patient gives a vague response, this technique helps the nurse gain more specific information.
What is clarifying?
Rationale: Clarifying ensures accurate understanding and prevents misinterpretation.
This SBAR component includes the current issue or reason for communication.
What is Situation?
Rationale: Situation states the immediate problem and sets the context for communication.
This leadership style allows staff to make decisions with minimal direction.
What is laissez-faire leadership?
Rationale: Laissez-faire can empower experienced teams but risks lack of structure.
A task requiring clinical judgment, such as patient assessment, should be performed by this role.
What is the RN?
Rationale: Assessment and clinical judgment cannot be delegated.
A patient avoids eye contact during conversation. This may reflect this cultural communication difference.
What are cultural norms regarding eye contact?
Rationale: Eye contact can have different meanings across cultures and should not be misinterpreted.
Providing emergency care without liability protection in good faith falls under this law.
What is the Good Samaritan Law?
Rationale: These laws protect providers acting in emergencies outside clinical settings.
Treating patients fairly reflects this principle.
What is justice?
Rationale: Justice ensures equal and fair care for all patients.
If a patient refuses treatment, the nurse should do this first.
What is respect the patient’s decision (or assess understanding)?
Rationale: Competent patients have the right to refuse care; the nurse ensures understanding, not compliance.
A patient says, “I’m scared about my surgery,” and the nurse responds, “Everything will be fine.” This is an example of this non-therapeutic technique.
What is false reassurance?
Rationale: False reassurance dismisses patient feelings and blocks honest communication.
A nurse evaluates vital signs and symptoms before calling the provider. This represents this SBAR component.
What is Assessment?
Rationale: Assessment is the nurse’s clinical evaluation of the patient’s current condition.
This leadership style focuses on motivation, vision, and inspiring change.
What is transformational leadership?
Rationale: Transformational leaders improve outcomes by motivating and inspiring staff.
This team approach involves multiple healthcare professionals working together for patient care.
What is interdisciplinary collaboration?
Rationale: Collaboration improves outcomes by integrating different expertise.
Using a patient’s chosen name and pronouns is an example of this type of care.
What is inclusive or affirming care?
Rationale: Inclusive care promotes dignity, trust, and better health outcomes.
Failure to act as a reasonably prudent nurse is defined as this.
What is negligence?
Rationale: Negligence is the foundation of most legal claims in nursing.
Telling the truth reflects this principle.
What is veracity?
Rationale: Veracity builds trust and supports informed decision-making.
Restraining a patient without justification is considered this tort.
What is false imprisonment?
Rationale: Unjustified restraint violates patient rights and is legally actionable.
A nurse reviews key points at the end of a conversation to confirm understanding and reinforce learning.
What is summarizing?
Rationale: Summarizing improves retention and confirms mutual understanding.
A patient with high anxiety and stress is unable to focus during discharge teaching. This is an example of this barrier to learning.
What is emotional stress (or psychological barrier)?
Rationale: Stress limits attention and retention, making teaching ineffective until addressed.
This leadership style focuses on rewards and consequences for performance.
What is transactional leadership?
Rationale: Transactional leadership is task-focused and based on performance outcomes.
A nurse fails to follow up after delegating a task, resulting in patient harm. This violates this delegation principle.
What is the right supervision/evaluation?
Rationale: The RN is always accountable for monitoring outcomes of delegated tasks.
A nurse adapts care to align with a patient’s religious beliefs about end-of-life decisions. This reflects this principle.
What is respecting cultural/religious beliefs in care?
Rationale: Patient-centered care includes honoring beliefs even when they differ from the nurse’s.
Negligence by a professional nurse that leads to patient harm is called this.
What is malpractice?
Rationale: Malpractice is professional negligence with legal consequences.
Keeping promises and maintaining trust reflects this principle.
What is fidelity?
Rationale: Fidelity strengthens the nurse-patient relationship.
A nurse witnesses a colleague making a stereotype-based comment about a patient. The nurse should take this action.
What is address the behavior and advocate for the patient?
Rationale: Advocacy includes confronting bias and protecting patient dignity.
A competent adult Jehovah’s Witness patient refuses a life-saving blood transfusion. The nurse understands that the priority action is to respect this ethical principle.
What is autonomy?
Rationale: Competent patients have the legal and ethical right to refuse treatment, even if it results in death.