HHSC 1040 — Communication & Collaboration Flashcards

258 question-and-answer style flashcards covering Week 2 lecture content on communication, collaboration, nurse-patient relationships, boundaries, EHRs, conflict resolution, and medication abbreviations/math.

What are the three phases of the traditional nurse–patient relationship?

Orientation, working, and termination.

What is the orientation phase?

The initial phase where the nurse and patient establish trust, identify needs/problems, and determine the expected length of the relationship.

What should the patient develop during the orientation phase?

Enough trust to continue the relationship.

What happens during the orientation phase regarding the nurse and patient?

The patient and nurse see each other as individuals.

What is identified during the orientation phase?

The patient's perception of major problems and needs.

What is estimated during the orientation phase?

The expected length of the nurse–patient relationship.

What is the working phase?

The phase in which the nurse and patient work on identified problems and needs; the patient's effort and willingness to change may fluctuate.

What may patients experience during the working phase?

Alternating periods of intense effort and resistance to change.

Why can the working phase go up and down?

Patients may experience pain, frustration, a new diagnosis, fear, or other hurdles that affect their ability to work toward goals.

What is the termination phase?

The phase in which activities enable the nurse and patient to end the relationship in a therapeutic manner.

What may patients experience near termination/discharge?

They may feel anger or fear about going home, or excitement, accomplishment, and pride.

What is important before discharge?

Education and preparation for ending the therapeutic relationship.

Do professional boundaries disappear when the nurse–patient relationship ends?

No. Ending the relationship does not mean professional boundaries go away.

What is self-awareness?

The ability to recognize one's own emotions, prejudices, and biases and how these are perceived by others.

Why should nurses be aware of their personal needs?

Consciously meeting personal needs in private life helps keep relationships with patients professional and therapeutic.

What can happen when the nurse–patient relationship crosses professional boundaries?

Boundary violations can result, creating risk of harm to both patient and nurse.

How does the NCSBN define professional boundaries?

The spaces between the nurse's power and the client's vulnerability.

Where does the nurse's power come from according to the NCSBN?

The nurse's professional position and access to private knowledge about the client.

Why is the patient vulnerable in the nurse–patient relationship?

Patients may be in pain, frightened, at their weakest moments, or in situations where they must expose private information or their bodies.

What is a boundary violation?

A situation in which there is confusion between the needs of the nurse and those of the client.

What can professional boundary violations put at risk?

The nurse's job and nursing license, as well as the well-being of the patient.

Why should nurses avoid oversharing personal problems with patients?

The patient is not the nurse's therapist; oversharing can blur the professional relationship and shift attention to the nurse's needs.

What is the nurse's responsibility regarding professional boundaries?

The nurse is responsible for establishing, maintaining, and monitoring professional boundaries.

What kind of relationship should a nurse have with a patient?

A therapeutic relationship within established professional boundaries.

Should nurses combine professional and personal relationships with patients?

No. Combining a professional relationship with a personal or business relationship should be avoided.

What should a nurse do when behavior moves outside professional boundaries?

Monitor for deviations and modify behavior accordingly.

Who is responsible for terminating the professional relationship?

The nurse, although termination can be difficult when the patient needs ongoing care such as home care.

What is the zone of helpfulness?

The middle portion of the professional-boundary continuum where the nurse provides therapeutic involvement without under- or over-involvement.

What can under-involvement be considered?

It can be neglectful.

What is over-involvement?

Excessive involvement in the patient's life or relationship beyond therapeutic nursing needs.

Why may gifts from patients create a boundary issue?

Accepting gifts can shift the relationship toward personal involvement; healthcare organizations may have policies limiting or prohibiting gifts above certain values.

What is communication?

The process of exchanging information and generating and transmitting meanings between two or more people.

What forms of behavior can communication include?

Spoken and written words, gestures, body movements, somatic signals, and symbolism.

What are somatic signals?

Physical presentations such as color changes, breathing patterns, or hand flexing that communicate information.

What are the five major elements of the communication process?

Sender/source/encoder, message/channel, receiver/decoder, feedback, and context.

Who is the sender/source/encoder?

The person or group who initiates or begins the communication process.

What is the message?

The communication product from the sender.

What is a communication channel?

The medium selected by the sender to transmit the message.

What three sensory channels can carry a message?

Auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.

What is the auditory channel?

Communication through spoken words and auditory cues.

What is the visual channel?

Communication through sight, observations, and perception.

What is the kinesthetic channel?

Communication through touch.

Who is the receiver/decoder?

The person or group who obtains the message and interprets it.

What must the receiver do with a message?

Interpret it and determine an accurate response.

What is feedback?

Confirmation that the message was received and processed as intended.

What are examples of feedback?

A verbal response, head nod, confused look, or sometimes silence while the person processes the message.

What is context?

The setting in which an interaction occurs, including the mood, relationship between sender and receiver, and other environmental factors.

What is noise?

Any factor that distorts the quality of a message or interferes with communication.

Where can noise interfere?

At any point in the communication process.

What are examples of environmental noise?

Distractions in the surroundings that interfere with the sender or receiver.

What are examples of internal noise?

Pain, fatigue, stress, grief, and other internal distractions.

What are the two primary forms of communication?

Verbal and nonverbal communication.

What is verbal communication?

An exchange of information using words, including spoken and written words.

What does a person's language use reveal?

It may reveal aspects of intellectual development, educational level, geographic origin, and cultural origin.

What is nonverbal communication?

Communication through body language and other nonverbal behaviors.

Why is nonverbal communication important to nurses?

It can help nurses understand subtle or hidden meanings in what patients say verbally.

What should a nurse do when verbal and nonverbal messages conflict?

Investigate further to reconcile the inconsistency.

What is touch in communication?

A personal behavior that can communicate feelings such as comfort, love, affection, security, anger, frustration, aggression, and excitement.

Why must nurses consider culture when using touch?

Touch has different meanings to different people and cultures.

What is the cultural significance of eye contact?

Eye contact may communicate respect and willingness to listen in some cultures, while in other cultures it may be viewed as disrespectful or an invasion of privacy.

What might absence of eye contact indicate?

Anxiety, defenselessness, or avoidance, although cultural context must be considered.

What can different eye expressions communicate?

A stare may occur with anger, narrowed eyes with disgust, wide eyes with fear, and a blank stare with daydreaming or inattentiveness.

What can posture communicate?

It can provide clues about health, mood, pain, and physical limitations.

What may slouching suggest?

Depression or tiredness.

What can guarding or limping suggest?

Pain or physical limitations.

What are gestures?

Movements such as a thumbs-up or wringing the hands that can communicate information.

Why can gestures be especially useful across language differences?

People may use gestures when they do not speak the same language.

What is congruent communication?

When verbal and nonverbal messages match and reinforce each other.

What is incongruent communication?

When verbal and nonverbal messages do not match.

What are guidelines for professional nursing email and text messages?

Be concise, maintain professionalism, avoid text abbreviations, and do not use emojis.

How can nurses use social media professionally?

To share ideas, develop professional connections, access educational offerings and forums, receive support, and investigate best nursing practices.

What must nurses never disclose on social media?

Patient information or information about the healthcare organization where they work.

What can happen if a nurse improperly discloses protected information?

Serious consequences may include legal liability, loss of licensure, and loss of employment.

Which organizations have published professional social-media guidelines for nurses?

The American Nurses Association and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

What is perception in the communication process?

The selection, organization, and interpretation of incoming signals into meaningful messages.

Why can different people perceive the same message differently?

Perception is influenced by personal experience, alertness, sociocultural background, academic background, and other factors.

What is evaluation in the communication process?

The analysis of a received message, including whether the sender is knowledgeable, trustworthy, and makes sense.

What is transmission?

The expression of information through verbal or nonverbal means.

What should every professional email include?

A polite tone, professional language, a salutation, and the sender's name/signature.

Should nurses use abbreviations in professional emails?

No; professional email should avoid abbreviations.

What should a nurse do before sending an email?

Proofread it.

What should a nurse do before sending an angry or upset message?

Allow time to cool off, reread the message after the initial reaction has subsided, and reconsider it before sending.

What is emotional intelligence?

The ability to understand how emotions function within oneself and others and to use emotions effectively.

What five areas of emotional intelligence are listed?

Self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, empathy, and social skills.

What is self-awareness?

Recognizing and understanding one's own moods and feelings and appreciating how one's emotional behaviors affect others.

How is self-awareness developed?

Through an ongoing commitment to examining one's feelings and behavior and their effects on oneself and others.

What is self-regulation?

The ability to control one's behavior without external control or monitoring.

How can a nurse improve self-regulation during an emotional situation?

Avoid taking things personally and use stress-management techniques such as deep breathing before reacting.

What is self-motivation?

The ability to set goals, standards, and expectations for yourself and meet them.

What is empathy?

The ability to sense intellectually and emotionally another person's emotions, feelings, and reactions and communicate that understanding effectively.

What is sympathy?

A feeling of pity or sorrow for another person's distress; commiseration.

What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?

Empathy involves understanding and imagining another person's experience while remaining therapeutic and objective; sympathy is feeling pity or sorrow for the person's distress.

Why must an empathic nurse remain objective?

To be sensitive to the patient's feelings while still helping the patient work toward positive outcomes.

What are social skills?

The ability to relate to many different types of people and groups.

What are examples of social skills?

Greeting people, remembering and using preferred names, listening with interest, and using common courtesies such as please and thank you.

What is active listening?

Listening attentively and intentionally while remaining alert, relaxed, and engaged with what the other person is saying.

How should a nurse approach active listening?

Be alert but relaxed, keep the conversation natural, avoid appearing overly eager, and pay attention to what is being said.

What should a nurse consider about eye contact while listening?

Maintain eye contact when culturally appropriate without staring.

What should a nurse do before responding?

Think before responding and do not interrupt.

Why should nurses avoid pretending to listen?

Patients need to know the nurse is genuinely paying attention to their concerns.