Your patient informs you that she would like to stop his two-pack-a-day cigarette habit but has heard complaints about the clinic's antismoking program. Which of the following would be an appropriate response?

Question

a. "Why do you smoke that much?"
b. "What a good idea, I'm sure that the clinic's program will help you."
c. "Tell me more about your concerns about stopping smoking."
d. "Try the support group for smokers instead; it has had great success in helping people stop smoking."

Answer 1

C
Patients who have had previous stressful or unpleasant experiences with physicians, hospitals, or other agents of the health care system often engage in criticism or verbal attack. It is not helpful for the nurse to defend the object of the attack. Defending implies that the patient has neither the right to hold such opinions or feelings, nor the right to express them. Defending is not therapeutic because it requires the nurse to speak not just for herself but for others, something that nurses are realistically not able to do. It is more useful to accept patients' right to feel as they do without agreeing with the expressed feelings. This empathetic behavior defuses any antagonism and minimizes patient resistance to continued interaction.