Effective communication and interpersonal skills take some work. In all health care related situations, nurses should be aware of their demeanor and verbal abilities as well as their limitations. Particularly in situations of psychiatric and psychosocial stress, nurses need to use these interpersonal skills to accomplish a therapeutic outcome.

Listening

Listening and the therapeutic use of silence are valuable tools. Active listening is achieved by paying close attention to the sender of the message. The listener should attend to the sender’s verbal and nonverbal communication. Maintaining an attentive posture, changing facial expressions to conform with the content of what the patient is saying, using hand gestures, and nodding and shaking the head all convey attention. Some sounds have come to mean specific things:

• Ah hah!

• Uh oh!

• Uh huh?

These commonly used phrases encourage interactions. Silence is therapeutic when it is used to convey an interest in what the patient is saying. Listening without interrupting tells the patient that you want to hear more.