Chapter 04: Communication and Physical Assessment of the Child and Family Hockenberry: Wong's Essentials of Pediatric Nursing, 10th Edition

The nurse is seeing an adolescent boy and his parents in the clinic for the first time. What should the nurse do first? a. Introduce self. b. Make family comfortable. c. Explain purpose of interview. d. Give assurance of privacy. - ANS: A The first thing that nurses should do is to introduce themselves to the patient and family. Parents and other adults should be addressed with appropriate titles unless they specify a preferred name. During the initial part of the interview, the nurse should include general conversation to help make the family feel at ease. Clarification of the purpose of the interview and the nurse's role is the next thing that should be done. The interview should take place in an environment as free of distraction as possible. In addition, the nurse should clarify which information will be shared with other members of the health care team and any limits to the confidentiality. DIF: Cognitive Level: Apply REF: p. 57 TOP: Integrated Process: Communication and Documentation MSC: Area of Client Needs: Psychosocial Integrity Which is most likely to encourage parents to talk about their feelings related to their child's illness? a. Be sympathetic. b. Use direct questions. c. Use open-ended questions. d. Avoid periods of silence. - ANS: C Closed-ended questions should be avoided when attempting to elicit parents' feelings. Openended questions require the parent to respond with more than a brief answer. Sympathy is having feelings or emotions in common with another person rather than understanding those feelings (empathy). Sympathy is not therapeutic in helping the relationship. Direct questions may obtain limited information. In addition, the parent may consider them threatening. Silence can be an effective interviewing tool. It allows sharing of feelings in which two or more people absorb the emotion in depth. Silence permits the interviewee to sort out thoughts and feelings and search for responses to question