The nurse is establishing a therapeutic environment with a newly admitted patient with a serious mental illness. Which statement should the nurse use to demonstrate empathetic communication?

Question

1. "I feel really bad that you have this disorder."
2. "You appear upset. Do you want to talk about it?"
3. "You appear upset. Why do you feel this way?"
4. "Many people have this disorder. You will feel better in no time."

Answer 1

2. "You appear upset. Do you want to talk about it?"

Explanation:
Empathy is sensing the perceptions or feelings of an individual and one's relationship to the individual's situations and experiences (feeling what the other person is feeling) and communicating and validating or adjusting one's perceptions based on feedback from that person. Empathy is an important aspect of therapeutic communication. The statement, "You appear upset. Do you want to talk about it?" is the best example of empathetic communication because the nurse is perceiving and validating the patient's feelings. Telling the patient that the nurse feels bad for the patient is expressing sympathy, not empathy. Asking why the patient feels the way that he or she does is not validating the patient's feelings. The nurse should not tell the patient that many people have the same disorder as the patient, as this does not validate the patient's feelings or experience.