Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo

3.1 Therapeutic Communication

The process of therapeutic communication in nursing consists of several steps: develop communication goals, create the message, deliver the message, listen to the response, and seek clarification of the response. The primary characteristics of therapeutic communication are building trust through honesty, active listening, and respecting patients’ beliefs and values. To evaluate therapeutic communication, one must reflect on the patient’s response and compare the response to the desired communication goals.

3.2 Comprehensive Interview Practices

The four phases of a comprehensive interview are the preparatory phase, the introductory phase, the maintenance phase, and the termination phase. The best techniques the nurse can use during a comprehensive interview help the patient to answer questions without interrupting their flow of ideas; these techniques include asking open-ended questions, adaptive questioning, encouraging the patient to verbalize their feelings, and respecting the patient’s values and beliefs. Finally, there are special considerations to recognize when conducting a comprehensive interview: age, cultural, and emotional issues can all add complex factors that nurses must take into consideration.

3.3 Patient Education and Teaching

The purposes of patient education and teaching are to promote positive patient outcomes, health literacy, and self-care. Many factors can affect patient learning, including the patient’s learning needs, age and developmental level, and readiness to learn. The nurse’s role in patient education and teaching involves determining effective teaching strategies, evaluating patient learning, and documenting the teaching-learning process.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/clinical-nursing-skills/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/clinical-nursing-skills/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jun 25, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.