A nurse wishes to obtain data about a new patient's self-esteem. To gain the clearest picture, the nurse uses the assessment technique of (Select all that apply.)

Question

a. asking about the patient's perception of self-esteem.
b. completing an entire head-to-toe assessment first.
c. conducting a structured interview with direct questions.
d. interviewing the patient in an unstructured format.
e. observing for relevant verbal and nonverbal clues.

Answer 1

D, E
An unstructured interview format allows the nurse to establish rapport and get insight into the patient's perspective. Combined with observation, this would yield the best information.
Observation often results in gathering a depth of data that is difficult to gain by other methods. Combined with an unstructured interview to gain the patient's trust, this technique would be very valuable.
A head-to-toe assessment would not yield information about self-esteem.
A structured interview is often used to gather specific information, but because this nurse has not yet had time to develop rapport, focusing questions on a sensitive issue such as self-esteem would probably not elicit accurate information. Also, structured interviews are most often used in emergency situations, and this does not qualify as an emergency.