Introduction
Patients who are anxious, depressed, or angry due to life-altering health conditions challenge receiving adequate care. This paper aims to establish effective therapeutic communication between the student nurse and their patients through the various therapeutic communication techniques for better patient care. Therefore, student nurses should be assisted in engaging with patients by cognitive and social strategies and specialized instructional knowledge on understanding patient obstacles to care.
In developing the therapeutic communication, the conversation discussed later in the paper involves a 43 years old male client diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). ALL is a rare type of cancer that targets the bone marrow’s white blood cells (Senft & Jeremias, 2019). Because the condition commences with young cells and advances swiftly, the label includes the term acute. While there is no conclusive reason for abnormalities, documented risk factors include obesity, smoking, having a weakened immune system, and having previously received chemotherapy.
Establishing Nurse-client Relationship
In establishing an effective nurse-patient relationship, the paper explores the four phases of relationship development and how the student nurse facilitated each step for efficient nurse-client communication and satisfactory patient satisfaction and experience. Reynolds (2021) enumerates the following four phases of relationship development as essential in effective nurse-client therapeutic communication. First, the phase preceding contact is the only stage of the therapeutic nurse-client engagement in which the patient is not engaged directly. Throughout this phase, the physician organizes for the patient encounter by acquiring pertinent customer data and addressing client issues before the meeting. In ensuring that the communication was effective, I checked the patient’s past medical history to ascertain whether the condition was acquired or hereditary. Additionally, I was mindful of the possible client problems before contacting the patient.
Second, the orientation phase describes the component’s objective, responsibilities, norms, and a methodology for identifying the client’s needs. As the physician attempts to build credibility with the patient, they provide the individual with background knowledge such as their name, professional position, and details about the relationship’s goal. Additionally, I provide my name and professional status to the patient. The nurse-client interaction protects each client’s integrity, freedom, and confidentiality (Reynolds, 2021). Therefore, as a nurse, I provided the client with the required information to set the framework for care.
Third, the working stage is the relationship’s problem-solving phase compared to the nursing component’s planning and execution stages. Before entering the operational phase, medical strategies and patient activities are appraised with the therapeutic objectives that direct nursing treatments and client activities. Clients can go into greater detail about their problems. I encouraged the patient to establish appropriate dietary patterns that prohibit raw fruits and vegetables and require all meals to be processed, thus inhibiting them from consuming raw fruits.
Lastly, the self-disclosure phase allows patients to articulate their sentiments concerning the physician’s communication; therefore, limiting one’s self-disclosure may be suitable. Giving a client access to my personal information helped build a stronger relationship. The following tactic helped me maintain self-disclosure on a therapeutic level while yet facilitating communication: I talked about my considerable experience with ALL individuals and how I understood what he was going through at the time.
Relationship between the Environment and the Interaction
In interactions between patients and clinicians, effective communication is essential for client-centered care, collaborative decision making, and healthcare-related adverse occurrences that can be avoided. Environmental relations can have a variety of implications on interpersonal interactions, both beneficial and unfavorable. Timing, distraction, location, weather, inadequate illumination, long-distance hurdles, and visual noise are just a few of the challenges to efficient communication. In my interaction with the patient, the environmental concern was the frequency and intensity of medical alarms within the medical facility. To improve this condition for effective nurse-client communication, I took the patient outside to the hospital’s open air space garden, free from any noise and air refreshing.
Zones of Personal Space
Personal space refers to the area around an individual that they view as psychologically theirs. Most people cherish their personal space and experience irritation, rage, or panic when it is violated. Broadly, there exists four distinct zones of personal space: public, social, personal, and intimate zones. The intimate zone is characterized by a social distance of 0-8 inches, the personal zone has a length of 18 inches, social-consultative has a distance of 9-12 feet between the nurse and the patient, and the public zone has a distance of 12 or more feet between the individuals. Therefore, the type of personal zone used was the personal space preferably because, according to Holmes et al. (2020), personal space is most effective for the therapeutic communication. It establishes a strong emotional bond with the nursing student, reducing patient worry and tension and enhancing safety and quality of care.
Non-verbal Communication and the Patient’s Special Needs
Facial features, eye contact, and stance all constitute non-verbal interaction. Gestures can either increase or hinder patient interactions. Monitoring clients’ body gestures can reveal critical information about their emotional state. During the exchange, I maintained eye contact with the patient. Maintaining eye contact throughout a conversation demonstrates respect for the other person and a willingness to understand. As a result, there was a trust created between us, culminating in desired health outcomes. On the other hand, the patient eye contact showed that he was attentively listening and following what I was saying throughout the conversation.
Because of the severity of the disease, the patient was sad at most times. Additionally, his age was a factor to consider since it allows for longer hours of activity and concentration. Showing compassion and bringing up funny stories during the conversation made his moods swift to happiness at times. Furthermore, in between the conversation were resting periods where we would take a break and let him rest since the chemotherapies he took could not allow him to have a long attention span.
Dialogue
The table below summarizes both the verbal and non-verbal communication that I had with my client during the session we spent together at the hospital. The dialogue encompasses the various issues about Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and how the patient generally feels about his condition. Additionally, as a student nurse, it provides insight into how to deal and create an effective, long-lasting relationship with the patient bound with trust.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the vital role that communication plays in the nurse-patient relationship cannot be underestimated. Communication brings about effective and satisfactory clinical outcomes, and, therefore, its absence could be detrimental to any healthcare institution. Additionally, therapeutic nurse-patient interaction is essential to delivering medical care that is secure, effective, empathetic, and conscientious. The nursing profession is theory-driven and scientific proof when it is provided through the therapeutic patient-nurse interaction. Therefore, medical professionals should strive to maintain and create an effective therapeutic communication relationship with their patients for effective health outcomes.
References
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