Patient Assessment in Radiation Therapy

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering patient assessment, therapeutic relationships, and communication techniques in radiation therapy.

Assessment

The clinical plan that identifies the unique needs of the patient and how those needs will be addressed.

Therapeutic Relationship

A relationship between the patient and health care provider which allows both parties to engage each other and produce beneficial change for the patient.

Cognitive Content

The actual facts and words contained in a verbal message.

Affective Content

Consists of feelings, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors; expressed through emotions which are more difficult to communicate and perceive than cognitive messages.

Major Categories of Human Feelings

The four categories into which human feelings are often grouped: anger, sadness, fear, and happiness.

Reflective Listening

A communication technique that involves responding with empathy and is essential to developing appropriate verbal responses.

Empathy

Identifying with the feelings, thoughts, or experiences of another person to understand their condition from their perspective.

Sympathy

A response that, unlike empathy, does not involve a shared perspective or shared emotions.

Minimal Response

Verbal counterparts to head nodding, such as "Yes" or "I see," used to indicate the patient is being heard.

Reflecting Response

A response where health care providers communicate their understanding of the patient’s concerns and perspectives, often starting with "Sounds as if you are…".

Paraphrasing Response

A response that restates what the patient has said using different words while remaining interchangeable with the patient's original statement.

Probing Response

A response that seeks more information through open-ended questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer.

Clarifying Response

Used to obtain more information to reduce ambiguity or clarify vague statements.

Interpreting Response

Involves adding something to the patient's statement to help them understand underlying feelings, allowing the patient to confirm or correct the therapist's understanding.

Checking out Response

A response used when the radiation therapist is confused, providing the patient opportunity to confirm or correct the therapist’s understanding.

Informing Response

A response that shares objective, factual, and informative information with the patient.

Confronting Response

A response that identifies inconsistencies between what the radiation therapist observes and what the patient is communicating.

Summarizing Response

A response that condenses and puts communicated information in order, especially helpful when a patient has difficulty conveying a sequence of events.

Nonverbal Communication Ratio

The proportion of communication that some experts state is nonverbal, valued at $2/3$.