An older school-age child is brought to the emergency department after a car accident. The parents witness and stare at the resuscitation scene unfolding before them. The child is not responding to the resuscitative efforts after 30 minutes
Which is the best communication strategy for the nurse to use in this situation?
A) Ask the parents whether they would like resuscitative efforts to be continued at this point.
B) Ask the parents to stand at the foot of the cart to watch.
C) Inform the parents that resuscitative efforts have not been effective and are not beneficial to the child.
D) Ask the parents to leave until the child has stabilized.
Answer: C
Care must be used in how the parents are asked to withdraw therapies. An effective communication strategy is to inform the parents that an intervention was initiated to give the child the best chance of recovery, but it has not been effective and is not beneficial to the child. When asking to withhold therapy such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, it is helpful to indicate that the therapy is not effective in reversing overwhelming illness or brain damage. All other interventions mentioned are not effective communication strategies in this situation.
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