Therapeutic Communication Introduction

Study Notes

Communication forms the basis of the nurse-patient relationship, crucial for psychiatric nurses to help patients regain psychological/physiological function, identify problems, and address emotional needs.
Communication is a two-way process involving the exchange of information, ideas, and feelings.

It is an interpersonal interaction where nurses focus on a client's specific needs to foster effective information exchange.
This approach helps nurses achieve goals like building therapeutic relationships, identifying key client concerns, understanding client interpretations of problems, and facilitating emotional expression.

Referent: The stimulus or reason for communication.
Sender: The person encoding and conveying the message.
Message: The content of the communication.
Medium (Channel): The method of communication (e.g., auditory, visual, tactile).
Receiver: The person who interprets the message .
Feedback: The response the receiver gives, showing if the message was understood.

Communication consists primarily of nonverbal (90%) and verbal (10%) cues.
Verbal communication: Words used for communication.
Effective verbal communication: Characteristics include clarity, brevity, pacing, relevance, and appropriate intonation.
Nonverbal communication: Includes personal appearance, eye contact, posture, gait and facial expressions.

Silence: Allows time for reflection and response.
Accepting: Shows reception and understanding of the message.
Giving Recognition: Acknowledging the client as a person.
Offering Self: Making oneself available and showing interest.
Offering General Leads: Encouraging continued communication without taking over.
Giving Broad Openings: Allows the client to direct the conversation.
Placing Events in Time or Sequence: Clarifies the context of events.
Making Observations: Expressing nurse's perceptions of client behaviour.
Encouraging Description of Perceptions: Encouraging clients to articulate their feelings.
Encouraging Comparisons: Helping clients identify similarities in situations to aid understanding.
Restating: Repeating the main point.
Reflecting: Reflecting feelings, ideas, and questions back to the client.
Focusing: Concentrating attention on a single point.
Exploring: Delving deeper into a topic.
Giving Information: Providing relevant facts.
Presenting Reality: Clarifying a situation or perception without argument.
Voicing Doubt: Expressing uncertainty in a non-judgmental way.

Internal factors: Include the communicator's knowledge level, age, concerns, and physical status.
External factors: Include the communication environment (e.g., noise level, temperature, lighting, crowding).