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Difficulty: HardTherapeutic Communication

During a medication administration round, a client recently diagnosed with Huntington's disease states to the practical nurse, 'I do not know how I am going to tell my teenage children about this. It feels like I am handing them a death sentence.' Which response by the nurse is the most therapeutic?

  1. You are experiencing a great deal of anxiety about how this illness will affect your children.Answer
  2. B
    Perhaps you should wait to discuss this with them until you have had more time to adjust.
  3. C
    It is completely normal to feel this way after receiving such life-altering news.
  4. D
    Are you worried that your children might also inherit this disease?

Answer

The most therapeutic response is to reflect the client's feelings by stating that they are experiencing a great deal of anxiety about how the illness will affect their children.
The correct answer utilizes reflection, a therapeutic technique that directs the client's ideas, feelings, and questions back to them. By acknowledging the heavy anxiety the client feels regarding their children, the nurse validates the client's emotional experience and creates a safe, non-judgmental space for the client to explore these fears further.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the client's statement to identify the core emotion.
The client is expressing profound fear, guilt, and feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of disclosing a genetic, life-limiting diagnosis to their children.
Identifying the underlying emotion is the first step in selecting a therapeutic communication technique.
2
Evaluate the nursing responses for therapeutic vs. non-therapeutic techniques.
Reflecting the client's anxiety validates their emotional state. Giving advice, normalizing/minimizing, and asking closed-ended leading questions are non-therapeutic.
Therapeutic communication should remain client-centered, encourage verbalization of feelings, and avoid imposing the nurse's values or assumptions.
3
Select the option that best facilitates continued dialogue.
The reflective statement acknowledges the client's burden without offering false hope or premature solutions.
Reflection demonstrates empathy and invites the client to elaborate on their feelings at their own pace.

Key Concept

Therapeutic Communication Techniques: Reflection and Validation
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Topics

Therapeutic Communication

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