An emergency department nurse is assessing a female client with traumatic injuries. To assess whether the client's injuries have resulted from abuse, which question would be most appropriate for the nurse to ask the client?
A) "Is your partner being mean to you?"
B) "Why do you think your husband has beaten you?"
C) "It looks like someone has hurt you. Tell me about it."
D) "Can you describe the person who did this to you?"
Ans: C
The nurse should say to the client, "It looks like someone has hurt you. Tell me about it." This is an open-ended statement and allows the client to verbalize her thoughts and feelings. Asking whether the partner is being mean or asking why the client thinks the husband has beaten her already assumes that the client has been abused. Asking about the person who did this would be ineffective because survivors of violence are unlikely to disclose sensitive information unless they perceive the nurse to be trustworthy and nonjudgmental. Additionally, this question is a closed question that does not allow the client to verbalize her thoughts and feelings openly.
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