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Difficulty: MediumMental Health Concepts

A mental health clinic nurse evaluates a client who recently experienced a traumatic home eviction. The client paces the examination room, wrings their hands, and states, "I have nowhere to go. I am a complete failure as a provider." Which of the following responses by the nurse demonstrate therapeutic communication? Select all that apply.

  1. You are feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to go next.Answer
  2. This must be an incredibly difficult situation for you to face.Answer
  3. Let us sit down together and talk about what happened.Answer
  4. D
    Why do you think you are a failure if the eviction was not entirely your fault?
  5. E
    Everything will work out fine once you find a new place to live.
  6. F
    If I were you, I would immediately reach out to the local housing authority.

Answer

The correct responses are those that utilize restatement ('feeling overwhelmed'), demonstrate empathy ('incredibly difficult situation'), and offer self ('sit down together').
Therapeutic communication focuses on validating the client's feelings, exploring their emotional state, and establishing a trusting nurse-client relationship. Restating the client's feelings, offering empathy, and offering one's presence (offering self) are all established therapeutic techniques. These approaches encourage the client to express their emotions openly without feeling judged, which is the immediate priority during a psychological crisis.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the client's emotional state and the scenario.
The client is experiencing acute anxiety and feelings of worthlessness secondary to a major life stressor (eviction).
Identifying the emotional baseline is required to select communication techniques that will de-escalate anxiety rather than increase it.
2
Evaluate each nursing response for therapeutic versus non-therapeutic techniques.
Identify validating and explorative statements while discarding statements that advise, judge, or provide false reassurance.
The NCLEX requires nurses to differentiate between responses that facilitate client-led dialogue and those that create communication blocks.
3
Select all options that use active listening, empathy, and reflection.
The responses focusing on the client's current feelings, offering presence, and validating the struggle are correctly identified as therapeutic.
These techniques empower the client, promote emotional safety, and form the foundation of psychiatric nursing care.

Key Concept

Therapeutic Communication Techniques
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Topics

Mental Health Concepts

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