By Day 3 of Week 1

Post a summary of the interview and a description of the communication techniques you would use with your assigned patient. Explain why you would use these techniques. Identify the risk assessment instrument you selected, and justify why it would be applicable to the selected patient. Provide at least five targeted questions you would ask the patient.

Summary of the Interview

The patient is a 26 year old Lebanese who leaves in a graduate student housing. Interview with this patient will be conducted in an environment that is deemed comfortable for both the patient and the provider. Given that the patient is a young adult, Lebanese female, the provider should be aware of possible potential cultural differences. For example, it may be appropriate to let the patient extend her hand for handshake on the first encounter as Lebanese are Arabs and the Muslims among them may prefer not to shake hands with opposite gender. Also, the patient’s profile suggests that she is likely a graduate student. The provider should not use technical terms or jargons expecting that the patient would understand because of her supposed level of education. The provider will allow ample opportunity for the patient to express the main reason for her visit and address the concern(s) in a manner that communicates assurance.

Communication Technique and Rationale for Use

Effective communication is the foundation of patient-provider relationship and determines patient satisfaction and compliance (Berman & Chutka, 2016). Effective communication provides warmth and empathy and encourages patients express their concerns as truthfully and openly as possible. The communication techniques employ with this patient include, open-ended questions, active listening, and confirming. Open-ended questions allow the patient to provide detail information rather than limiting responses to “yes or no.” Active listening involves more than hearing; it is rather paying attention to the content of speech and the feeling of the speaker (Jahromi et al., 2016). Active listening is critical during history taking as it shows the patient that the provider truly cares and whatever concerns she communicating are taking seriously. Confirmation technique is used to make sure the patient’s issues are well addressed and the patient understood any information provided by the provider.

Risk Assessment Tool

Patients present to the hospital, clinics, or doctor’s office for various reasons, which range from acute health issues to annual physical examination. Accurate history taking ensures that acute complaints are addressed and risks for chronic health conditions are unveiled and addressed. Health risk assessment evaluates individual’s risks of chronic disease, assists clinicians to develop personalized care plans, offer preventive care, and screen for individual’s risk level (Wu & Orlando, 2015). The health risk assessment tool that is chosen for this patient is the family health history tool such as “My Family Health Portrait.” Family health history tool helps identify the patient’s risk level for wide range of chronic health conditions such as breast cancer, coronary artery disease, and diabetes (Lushniak, 2015).

Five Targeted Questions for the Patient

Given the patient’s profile, the following targeted question will be asked.

1. Tell me about primary concern today
2. How have you been managing the condition?
3. What support system do you have in the U.S?
4. Do you have anyone who could be contacted regarding your illness?
5. Are you sexually active?

References

Berman, A. C., & Chutka, D. S. (2016). Assessing effective physician-patient communication skills: “Are you listening to me, doc?”. Korean journal of medical education, 28(2), 243–249. https://doi.org/10.3946/kjme.2016.21

Jahromi, V. K., Tabatabaee, S. S., Abdar, Z. E., & Rajabi, M. (2016). Active listening: The key of successful communication in hospital managers. Electronic physician, 8(3), 2123–2128. https://doi.org/10.19082/2123

Lushniak, B. D. (2015). Family Health History: Using the past to Improve Future Health. Public Health Reports, 130(1), 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1177/003335491513000102

Wu, R. R., & Orlando, L. A. (2015). Implementation of health risk assessments with family health history: Barriers and benefits. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 91(1079), 508. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2014-133195

By Day 6 of Week 1

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on 2 different days who selected a different patient than you, using one or more of the following approaches:

• Share additional interview and communication techniques that could be effective with your colleague’s selected patient.
• Suggest additional health-related risks that might be considered.
• Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.

Resposne 1

I enjoyed reading your post. Taking a complete health history is a center competency of the advanced nursing job. The reason for the health history is to source essential and personal information about the patient and permit the nurse and patient to set up a therapeutic relationship (Ingram, 2017).

Adam, we used similar communication techniques but different assessment tools. Assessment tools for screening encourage the way toward gathering data from the patient. Albeit more data is required, when surveying hazards for a 26-year-old Lebanese female living in graduate understudy housing, you could also utilize the evaluation tool for PVS (partner violence screen). Given the ladies is in the house suggests that she is not married. Lebanese ladies have an expanded danger of being exploited, given they are instructed to be accommodating and agreeable, permitting strength from the male partner. Even though this may not be valid for all, it is a typical practice. To give the highest caliber of care, a provider must perceive the hazard that could bring about people with social contrasts. A few questions you can ask are: 1.Have you had relationships in the past that caused you to feel unsafe? 2.          Are you in a relationship now that causes you to feel safe? 3. Have you been hurt in any capacity in the previous year?

Our ability to eliminate or control risks depends entirely on our ability to identify/anticipate them. Risk cannot be managed or addressed unless it is first identified. Risk assessment is a proactive process, not a reactive one—prepare for risks before they happen. Identify risks and develop appropriate risk mitigating strategies before things go wrong. Therefore, the built history is essential in positive therapeutic relationship development between the patient and the professionals in the healthcare environment (Shorter, 2017).

Ingram, S. (2017). Taking a comprehensive health history: learning through practice and reflection. British Journal of Nursing, 26(18). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2017.26.18.1033

Shorter, E. (2017). Doctors and their patients: A Social History. Routledge.

Sample response 2

Well written, I must agree with you that the effective communication is the foundation of patient provider relationship and determines patient satisfaction and compliance. Studies show that the clinician’s ability to explain, listen and empathize can have a profound effect on biological and functional health outcomes as well as patient satisfaction and experience of care. Clinicians and other members of the healthcare team conduct thousands of patient interactions during their career (Ingram, 2017). Open-ended questions are questions that require the patient to answer with more than a simple yes or no or nod of the head, whereas closed-ended questions generally limit the patient’s response to either a yes or no or a nod of the head (Elsie-McKendrick, 2019). The use of open-ended questions enables you to gather more information from the patient and to be more complete and accurate in your assessment; this, in turn, leads to appropriate patient-specific care (Ingram, 2017).

References

Elsie-McKendrick, A. (2019). Critical reflection on practice. Learning Critical Reflection, 90-101. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351033305-8

Ingram, S. (2017). Taking a comprehensive health history: Learning through practice and reflection. British Journal of Nursing, 26(18), 1033-1037. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2017.26.18.1033