Therapeutic
Of or relating to nurse-client communication techniques and relationship qualities that promote patient trust, healing, and growth.
Most items are “best response” questions: the stem gives a client statement and four nurse replies, and you pick the one technique that keeps the client talking. The single most-tested distinction is open-ended questions and reflection versus the blockers — false reassurance, advice (“If I were you…”), and “why” questions. A reliable tell: the answer almost always returns focus to the client’s feelings rather than to facts, the nurse, or a fix. When two responses both look therapeutic, choose the one that acknowledges emotion before content, and never an option that closes the conversation with reassurance.
Watch the phase trap: deeper exploration and pointing out discrepancies belong to the working phase, not orientation, where the task is building trust and setting the contract. Don’t confuse therapeutic technique with rapport (the relationship it creates), empathy (acknowledging a feeling — unlike sympathy or pity, which shift focus to the nurse), or boundaries (limits like declining gifts and self-disclosure). Memory hook: silence and reflection invite; advice and reassurance shut down.
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