Nursing Communication

Effective communication is vital to constructing an accurate and detailed patient history. A
patient’s health or illness is influenced by many factors, including age, gender, ethnicity, and
environmental setting. As an advanced practice nurse, you must be aware of these factors and
tailor your communication techniques accordingly. Doing so will not only help you establish
rapport with your patients, but it will also enable you to more effectively gather the information
needed to assess your patients’ health risks.
For this Discussion, you will take on the role of a clinician who is building a health history for a
particular new patient assigned by your Instructor.

To prepare:
With the information presented in Chapter 1 of Ball et al. in mind, consider the following:
By Day 1 of this week, you will be assigned a new patient profile by your Instructor for this
Discussion. Note: Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your
new patient profile assignment.
How would your communication and interview techniques for building a health history differ with
each patient?
How might you target your questions for building a health history based on the patient’s social
determinants of health?
What risk assessment instruments would be appropriate to use with each patient, or what
questions would you ask each patient to assess his or her health risks?
Identify any potential health-related risks based upon the patient’s age, gender, ethnicity, or
environmental setting that should be taken into consideration.
Select one of the risk assessment instruments presented in Chapter 1 or Chapter 5 of the
Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination text, or another tool with which you are familiar, related to
your selected patient.

Develop at least five targeted questions you would ask your selected patient to assess his or her
health risks and begin building a health history.
By Day 3 of Week 1
Post a summary of the interview and a description of the communication techniques you would
use with your assigned patient. Explain why you would use these techniques. Identify the risk
assessment instrument you selected, and justify why it would be applicable to the selected
patient. Provide at least five targeted questions you would ask the patient.
NOTE
I WILL FORWARD THE SCENARIO ONCE IT IS AVAILABLE ON ON BEFORE 24TH