Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Practice Exam

When a patient discusses his job-related stresses and you ask him to elaborate, what therapeutic technique are you using?

1. Clarifying

2. Acknowledging

3. Focusing

4. Reflection

The correct answer is: Focusing

When you ask a patient to elaborate on job-related stresses, you are employing the therapeutic technique of focusing. This approach involves directing the patient's attention to specific aspects of their concerns or experiences to facilitate deeper exploration and understanding. By encouraging the patient to provide more details about their stressors, you help them articulate their feelings, thoughts, and potential solutions, which can lead to greater self-awareness and insight into their situation. Focusing is beneficial in therapeutic settings as it helps patients prioritize their thoughts and feelings that may be overwhelming or fragmented. In doing so, it fosters a collaborative relationship between the nurse and the patient, enabling you to better grasp the underlying issues affecting their well-being. The other techniques mentioned, such as clarifying, acknowledging, and reflection, each have distinct purposes in communication. Clarifying would involve reformulating or summarizing what the patient has shared to ensure understanding, while acknowledging would involve recognizing and validating the patient's feelings. Reflection, on the other hand, entails mirroring the patient's emotions or thoughts back to them to deepen their insight or understanding. Although these techniques are also valuable in therapeutic communication, the act of asking a patient to elaborate specifically demonstrates the focused approach to understanding their concerns more clearly.