N109: Foundations in Nursing Practice

N109: Foundations in Nursing Practice Study Guide comfortable, quiet environment. Direct activities include interventions like providing a warmblanket, lotion for dry skin, acknowledging the person’s feelings, sitting quietly with the lonely or scared person, and ensuring good nutrition. The Helping Relationship The helping relationship involves a positive nurse-patient relationship where teaching is the key to managing analgesia in patients experiencing pain, as well as exploring other areas of care that may bring them comfort. Teaching is important especially because the patient will have to manage their pain and discomfort at home. It is imperative to instruct the patient to report pain in the early stages because it may be difficult to relieve if the pain becomes intense. Provide physical comfort and address self-care needs. 2.6 Communication and Comfort Effective nursing care is dependent on the intersection of strong communication techniques and effective teaching skills. When the nurse provides an environment where excellent communication and teaching can occur, the patient will understand what is expected and will experience increased feelings of psychosocial safety, security, and comfort. Communication can be verbal, non-verbal, or a combination of the two types. Verbal communication uses written or spoken words to send the message. When a message is spoken, the receiver must listen to the message in order to complete the cycle of communication. The nurse must understand that a patient or family may be influenced by an altered state of health, so an understanding of the message must be validated. This can be done by having the patient explain the information back to the nurse or through return demonstration. Non-verbal communication , or body language, is sending a message without the use of words. While non-verbal clues should be evaluated, the astute nurse will follow up on any non-verbal clue that is not consistent with the verbal communication. The nurse should also be aware of the way his or her own non-verbal communications may influence the process. Types of non-verbal communication include: • Posture may be an indication of the patient’s feelings of self-esteem or an indication of pain in some part of the body. An erect posture is typically indicative of a healthy individual with positive self-esteem. • Body position may be indicative of a person’s attitude. For example, a person with arms crossed across the chest may be resistant to the ideas being presented. • Facial expressions are extremely variable from person to person. Very subtle facial expressions can give the nurse clues to questions or worries that the patient might have. • Gestures may help emphasize an idea or may simply be stress relievers. For example, fidgeting of the patient may indicate that he is nervous, upset, tense, or bored. • Eye contact may indicate attentiveness and lack of eye contact may indicate avoidance or

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