Published on 2022-10-17 22:35:20
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Difficult conversations are tough to have regardless of your profession, and they are particularly emotionally charged between nurses and patients.
Many factors are at play when RNs must have serious discussions with patients about critical health conditions.
Below are some of the top initial challenges:
Additionally, nurses can feel:
Tips for RNs to Have Difficult Conversations
Feeling apprehension is natural when approaching a patient with challenging news, but here are some viable tips to help you prepare. While they may not eradicate your anxiety entirely, they can help get you organized to relay important information.
Plan what exactly you want to say and how you want to say it. What is the information you need to impart? Does it help if you write it out for yourself first? Examine the tone you want to use. Do you want to be compassionately straightforward? Do you want to slowly work in the important diagnosis or information needed? This can take some brainstorming but can save you nervousness!
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Be aware of your emotions. Depending on the severity of your dialogue, you may have some deep emotions of your own arise, especially if you are attached to the patient. Practice the conversation with a colleague so you can express yourself while being mindful of what you are feeling.
Be present. During your interaction with your patient, you do not need to steamroll through bad news. Take a breath and be present as you are speaking.
Plan how you want to end the conversation. Just as you want to plan what you will say in the beginning and throughout, take note of how you want to leave things.
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Furthermore, it may be useful to offer support you can direct them towards—whether it’s an organization, service, or person.
Additional Tips
Since advice is welcomed in all directions on this tough topic, additional takeaways you might want to consider are:
Asking the patient what he/she already knows about his/her condition before speaking.
If possible, asking a patient how much he/she wants to hear or expect before doing so.
Avoiding jargon or euphemisms.
Using empathy.
Giving information in small chunks and checking in with occasional summaries, if necessary.
Above all, remember to be kind to yourself as an RN during this process because it’s one of the most emotionally challenging experiences nurses have. While difficult conversations may not get any easier, preparing for them alleviates some of the understandable tension.
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