Nursing 104

N104: Essentials of Nursing Care – Health Safety Study Guide

Phases of the therapeutic relationship:

Introductory Phase

Working Phase

Termination Phase

3.3 Factors Influencing Communication and Learning There are several characteristics that may influence the patient's ability to communicate and learn. The astute nurse will take all of these factors into account when planning education or training for the patient. • The patient's knowledge about health and illness will have a profound influence on his beliefs about illness, his risk for illness, and the severity of a disease. Increased knowledge may increase the patient's interest in learning about the illness and possible treatments. • The patient's ethnicity and culture will have an impact on her communication patterns and knowledge about diseases. People from different cultures may be reluctant to ask for help or training or may assume that the healthcare system will take care of their needs, without any effort required on their part. • The patient's physical condition can negatively affect his ability to communicate and learn. If any senses are affected by illness, any teaching that might involve those senses will have to be modified. The ill patient may not have the stamina for long or intense training sessions so the nurse must be aware of signals that the patient is tiring. • The patient's emotions may positively or negatively affect communication and learning. Negative emotions that may be very common in an ill patient are not conducive to effective communication or learning. • The patient's developmental stage must be evaluated when planning any training or education. The nurse must be aware that age is not always an accurate way to categorize developmental level. • The patient's reading, writing, and communication abilities will affect the patient's ability to learn. The nurse must gear all teaching activities to the patient's intellectual abilities. • Past experiences with the healthcare system may be either positive or negative and may predispose the patient to have expectations of this relationship. • The patient's relationships and socioeconomic circumstances may have either a positive or negative impact on his ability to learn. The individual, who is worried about finances or a poor home situation, will be less ready to learn new information and skills. • Environmental factors may influence the therapeutic relationship. The nurse needs to be certain that a quiet environment without distractions is provided for the learning setting.

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