Elements of psychological support in nursing care

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Psychology
• Medical Education

Background:

• Patient anxiety is a common clinical challenge in internal medicine.
• Understanding nurses' coping mechanisms is crucial for effective patient care.
• Existing research has not fully explored nurses' immediate responses to patient anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the common responses of internal medicine nurses to patient-expressed anxiety.
• To identify the least frequent nurse responses when dealing with anxious patients.
• To provide insights into current nursing practices for managing patient anxiety.

Main Methods:

• Pilot study involving 50 nurses from internal medicine departments.
• Data collected using the Statement Response Questionnaire.
• Analysis of nurse responses to patient anxiety scenarios.

Main Results:

• The most frequent nurse responses included cheering up patients, information gathering, and symptom explanation.
• Less common responses involved expressing personal positive emotions and demonstrating empathy.
• Significant variation in response strategies among nurses was observed.

Conclusions:

• Nurses prioritize informational and reassuring strategies when patients express anxiety.
• There is a potential gap in utilizing empathetic and emotionally expressive communication.
• Further training may enhance nurses' empathetic responses to patient anxiety.