Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dara Yastrzemski
SUNY Delhi
Kirsty Digger
Bio
Dara Yastrzemski, RN BSN, is a psychiatric service line care manager at Bassett Medical Center
in Cooperstown, New York. In her current role, Dara is a full time care manager who functions
in an expanded nursing role that collaborates with patients and the multidisciplinary team to
provide care to the Bassett Healthcare Network patient population specific to behavioral health.
Dara's research interests include holistic nursing care, behavioral health, inter-professional
collaborative teamwork and holistic therapeutic communication for nursing. Dara is currently
enrolled in SUNY Delhi's Master of Science in Nursing Education program, with an expected
Conference
This conference brings together psychiatric nurses from around the nation to develop new skills,
demonstrate best practices, exchange lessons learned, share current evidence-based research, and
discover valuable resources. In addition to education, attendees will have valuable interaction
https://www.apna.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=3467
Attendees of the lecture will be able to identify knowledge gaps in their practice and after
participation will be able to describe how therapeutic communication can assist in a more holistic
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THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATIONS
approach to patient care. Most healthcare clinicians experience a gap in what they think they are
doing and what they are actually doing when it concerns therapeutic communication. This lecture
will allow the learners to discuss and demonstrate a more mindful communication process and
impart the skills to use to build on and practice hone their therapeutic communication skill set.
Instructional Methods
Learner-centered methods
Nursing is a health care science as evidenced by the use of the nursing process as a scientific
method. The two-way process of communication requires an understanding of the patient and the
experiences they express. Seasoned clinicians have experience in patient interactions, but in this
era of evidence-based nursing, the formal education of nurses in therapeutic communications has
been lacking. The act of communication is a set of codes that need to be interrupted and decoded
correctly. The lack of formal training and feedback of communication skills results in trial and
error to create a skill set that may or may not be the most effective or efficient. To communicate
effectively with enlightened and compassionate care, requires learned skill and is imperative to
providing the best patient care. This lecture will assist nurses to better hone their communication
skills and give them therapeutic communication tools to build upon their skills.
Evidence-based pedagogy
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THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATIONS
Abstract
Therapeutic communication is one of the pillars of nursing skills. This lecture explores examples
resolution and imparting information to the patient. Communication is a two-way process where
an exchange of ideas, thoughts, and emotions takes place through verbal or nonverbal signals. In
interactions. Nurses must use clear, relevant, simple, adaptable, and credible language when
techniques are being used to promote the wellbeing of a patient in a nursing care profession. The
purpose of therapeutic communication helps the nurse to gain the trust of patients and enhances
the inter-professional collaboration within the healthcare team. When patients believe that a
nurse cares about them, understands them, and is concerned about their problems, then a clear
communication channel opens to strengthen the individualized care. Active listening starts in the
introductory period when a nurse begins interacting with the patient. This technique requires
nurses to use their senses and attentiveness to analyze verbal and nonverbal communication with
or understanding what the patient is saying, retaining the information provided by the patient,
using the information provided by the patient to respond in a caring and appropriate manner or
propose a solution. The ability to work with professionals from other disciplines to deliver
collaborative competencies is missing, which makes consistent preparation of students and staff
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THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATIONS
challenging. Within inter-professional education and collaborative practice, the goal was to
understand the competencies for collaborative practice utilizing therapeutic communication skills
that are considered most relevant by health professionals working at the front line. For
provider outcomes. Nursing and medical staff education aimed at increasing therapeutic
communication will also increase collaborative practice skills and positive patient outcomes.
References
Kourkouta, L. & Papathanasiou, I.V. (2014). Communication in nursing practice. Journal of the
doi:10.5455/msm.2014.26.65-67
https://www.ncchc.org/cnp-therapeutic-communication