Question

A patient verbally communicates with the nurse while exhibiting nonverbal behavior. How should the nurse confirm the meaning of the nonverbal behavior?

1) Look for similarity in meaning between the patient's verbal and nonverbal behavior
2) Ask family members to help interpret the patient's behavior
3) Validate inferences by asking the patient direct questions
4) Recognize that what a patient says is most important

Answer 1

A nurse should confirm a patient's nonverbal behavior by 3) directly asking the patient questions to validate inferences, ensuring clarity and avoiding misunderstandings due to cultural differences in body language interpretation.

Step-by-step explanation:

To confirm the meaning of a patient's nonverbal behavior, a nurse should primarily use direct communication with the patient. The best approach is to validate inferences by asking the patient direct questions. This tactic ensures clarity and avoids misunderstandings. While observing the consistency between verbal and nonverbal cues is valuable, it can be misleading due to cultural differences in body language interpretation. Relying on family members could be helpful, but it's not always practical, and the patient's voice should be prioritized. Understanding that what a patient says is important, but nonverbal cues can provide additional context and should not be dismissed. Nurses should be equipped to read body language, noting smiles, frowns, and other gestures, as these physical expressions could enhance understanding of a patient's emotional and physical state.