A patient tells the nurse that taking deep breaths usually works to reduce acute stress, but lately it has not been working very well. The nurse should do which of the following to help the patient?
1. Review a variety of other techniques, such as progressive relaxation, humor, or music therapy.
2. Encourage the patient to continue to take deep breaths because that is one of the best ways to reduce stress.
3. Tell the patient that most stress reduction techniques do not work anyway.
4. Ask the patient what physical activities she prefers since this is the only way to reduce stress.
Review a variety of other techniques, such as progressive relaxation, humor, or music therapy.
Rationale: The nurse should help the patient understand that no single stress reduction method is always successful to reduce stress. The nurse should offer other techniques, such as progressive relaxation, humor, or music therapy. The nurse should not encourage the patient to continue a technique that is not working such as deep breathing. The nurse should also not falsely tell the patient that stress reduction techniques do not work. Even though physical activity is known to reduce stress, the nurse should not tell the patient that this is the only way to reduce stress.
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