The nurse is caring for a patient with somatic symptom disorder. What information is most important for the nurse to include in the report to the staff on the next shift?

Question

1. The trigger for the patient's worries
2. The original source of the patient's anxiety
3. The amount of time the patient talked about physical complaints
4. The patient's use of abdominal breathing at the first sign of anxiety

Answer 1

Answer: 3
Explanation: Patients with somatic symptom disorder exhibit excessive focus on their physical symptoms. It is essential the staff on the next shift know how much time the patient talks about physical complaints in order to evaluate whether the patient meets the goal of decreasing that time spent on talking about the physical complaints. While the other information may be helpful to other staff members, it is not as important as how much time the patient has spent focusing on physical complaints.