Nokea
Which is considered a block to effective communication?
- A. Using silence
- B. Using clichés
- C. Directing the focus
- D. Defining the problem
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Using stereotyped comments or clichés can block effective communication. After the nurse uses such trite phrases, parents often do not respond. Silence can be an effective interviewing tool. Silence permits the interviewee to sort out thoughts and feelings and search for responses to questions. To be effective, the nurse must be able to direct the focus of the interview while allowing maximum freedom of expression. By using open-ended questions and guiding questions, the nurse can obtain the necessary information and maintain a relationship with the family. The nurse and parent must collaborate and define the problem that will be the focus of the nursing intervention.
You may also like to solve these questions
The nurse is seeing an adolescent and the parents in the clinic for the first time. Which should the nurse do first?
- A. Introduce him- or herself.
- B. Make the family comfortable.
- C. Give assurance of privacy.
- D. Explain the purpose of the interview.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The first thing that nurses must 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. Clarification of the purpose of the interview and the nurses role is the second thing that should be done. During the initial part of the interview, the nurse should include general conversation to help make the family feel at ease. The interview also 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.
The nurse is having difficulty communicating with a hospitalized 6-year-old child. Which technique should be most helpful?
- A. Recommend that the child keep a diary.
- B. Provide supplies for the child to draw a picture.
- C. Suggest that the parent read fairy tales to the child.
- D. Ask the parent if the child is always uncommunicative.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Drawing is one of the most valuable forms of communication. Childrens drawings tell a great deal about them because they are projections of the childrens inner self. A diary should be difficult for a 6-year-old child, who is most likely learning to read. The parent reading fairy tales to the child is a passive activity involving the parent and child; it should not facilitate communication with the nurse. The child is in a stressful situation and is probably uncomfortable with strangers, not always uncommunicative.
The nurses approach when introducing hospital equipment to a preschooler who seems afraid should be based on which principle?
- A. The child may think the equipment is alive.
- B. Explaining the equipment will only increase the childs fear.
- C. One brief explanation will be enough to reduce the childs fear.
- D. The child is too young to understand what the equipment does.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Young children attribute human characteristics to inanimate objects. They often fear that the objects may jump, bite, cut, or pinch all by themselves without human direction. Equipment should be kept out of sight until needed. Simple, concrete explanations about what the equipment does and how it will feel will help alleviate the childs fear. Preschoolers need repeated explanations as reassurance.
During a funduscopic examination of a school-age child, the nurse notes a brilliant, uniform red reflex in both eyes. The nurse should recognize that this is which?
- A. A normal finding
- B. A sign of a possible visual defect and a need for vision screening
- C. An abnormal finding requiring referral to an ophthalmologist
- D. A sign of small hemorrhages, which usually resolve spontaneously
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: A brilliant, uniform red reflex is an important normal finding. It rules out many serious defects of the cornea, aqueous chamber, lens, and vitreous chamber.
Where is the best place to observe for the presence of petechiae in dark-skinned individuals?
- A. Face
- B. Buttocks
- C. Oral mucosa
- D. Palms and soles
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Petechiae, small distinct pinpoint hemorrhages, are difficult to see in dark-skinned individuals unless they are in the mouth or conjunctiva.