Communication Review

Communication Review

Review the materials from the Fundamentals of Practical Nursing (6^th ed.) textbook on therapeutic communication and the CNO standard on Therapeutic Communication. Read each of the scenarios below and describe how you would respond therapeutically (verbally and non-verbally) in each scenario.

1. Doug is a 92-years-old gentleman who lives in the nursing home. He just lost his wife after 70 years of marriage. For the past week he has isolated himself in his room and refuses to come to the dining room for his meals. You notice that he stares out the windows for long periods and avoids contact with staff.

Today he has refused to eat his breakfast, what would you do in this situation?

2. Ms. Esther Simons, a patient who is receiving palliative care, confides in you that she feels overwhelmed with the number of issues she must attend to, now that she's facing the possibility of death. She says, “My thoughts are all over the place. I don't know where to start.”

3. Mrs. Smith says to you “My husband died a year ago. It has been the longest and saddest year of my life”.
4. You are bathing a Mrs. Cross when she suddenly starts to yell at you for not doing the bath correctly
5. You enter Mrs. Jones room and find her sitting in a chair sobbing quietly. She has only been at the facility for 2 days.
6. You have been visiting Mr. Flowers for 6 months, daily to help him with ADLs. Today when you arrive, he looks very sad and states “My children want me to move to a nursing home. I do not want to go. I don’t know what to do.
7. You find Mr. Black, a non-verbal client of yours sitting in a chair, holding his arm and rocking back and forward.